Second Contact
by Memory Theta
Summary: In the year 2367, the RSS Endurance (RSRN-1702-D) investigates a temporal anomaly in the Mazar System. They encounter a ship and crew, alien not only to them but to their Galaxy. The USS Enterprise-D. However, the Republic in which the Endurance comes from has had experience with these matters before and even has Spartans to prove it.
1. Another Galaxy Class? and Disclaimer

**Programmer's Log**

Hello again! I told you I would be seeing you again (metaphorically, of course). Look ugh, I knew this would come up if Memory Theta ever _did_ enact protocol 67, and I decided to make a log about it just to keep the record clear. I designed the system to be _capable_ of describing… sexual matters. Now let me be clear, I did not design the system to be a pervert, it will refrain from describing graphic sexual material. The most it will describe in practice is say " _Insert name here_ kissed _insert name here_ passionately slamming _insert name here_ 's back on the warp core". Now, as you most likely know, no system is **perfect** , and there may be exceptions to this part of Memory Theta's programming, if it deems it crucial to the story. However, his directives clearly state to use as little graphic material as possible without compromising the story (whether or not he obeys this is up to him… he is an AI after all). Also, another… thing. The Republic has always been very Liberal in general, especially in the matters of personal rights and liberties, including those who are sexually oriented differently than the majority (which was unanimously accepted). Now I understand if your planet has cultural… objections to this sort of behavior, that you'd want to avoid this story and I am okay with that, but please do not say I did not warn you.

 ** _"_** ** _Captain's log, Stardate 44305.45, we have detected an unknown Starship in the Mazar system following a recent the recent disturbance that was detected by space observatory on Mars, it appears to use the same transponder codes as Republic Starfleet, it is reading as the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-D. We are moving in to investigate."_**

 **Chapter 1- Another Galaxy Class?**

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

 **Main Bridge**

The Main Bridge of the RSS _Endurance_ was typical for a Galaxy Class starship. Circular in shape, replicator on the left right below the ship's plaque and the viewscreen was over 250 inches big as to be expected on such a starship. The Bridge was warmly lit; almost feeling like you were standing outside on a somewhat sunny day without the fear of a sunburn.

As for the crew, they all wore standard Republic Starfleet Standard Issue uniforms that was color coded for their division, gold for the Command Division, red for the Tactical Division, Blue for the Science Divisions, and black for the Operations Division. Rank insignia was displayed on their left breast, while their combadge was placed on the right. Bronze rank 'pips' indicated ranks below 2nd Sub-Lieutenant, silver ones represented ranks between 2nd Sub-Lieutenant and Commander, while gold ones represented ranks between Senior Commander and Supreme Commander.

"Mister Lore, when will we be in sensor range?" Asked the Captain.

"One hundred seconds exactly sir." Replied the Android at operations.

The _Endurance's_ Captain was puzzled, this starship appears out of nowhere, uses the same transponder codes as a Starfleet vessel, yet doesn't use any of the same identification prefixes, and is not even registered at all in the Republic Central Database. Not even the identification tag, USS, has been used in over 300 years. Unless…

"Lieutenant Lore, could this ship be the same ship that the Earth Defense Force encountered at Autobot Outpost Omega-One during the Autobot-Decepticon war?" the Captain asked.

"Accessing… the files on that incident were heavily classified under Temporal Prime Directive, only however they were declassified one hour ago, by the Supreme Commander himself."

"I find it difficult to believe that was a coincidence…" the Captain said with suspicion.

"On the contrary, the Temporal Prime Directive states that on the date that the temporal incursion takes place, the information no longer is classified under the Directive." Lore said.

"Summarize the files." The Captain ordered.

"The files are very vague, sir. It states that the Autobots encountered an anomaly, and when they investigated they found an alien shuttlecraft." He continued "Rafael Esquivel unlocked the airlock door, and the aliens, later to be identified as two humans and one... Android that… looks identical to me."

At that moment all eyes were on the Android, when the Tactical officer asked.

"Another P-4 Type?"

"Other than my brother, Data who is Captain of the _Endeavour_ , I am the only other model P-4 type android in service." Lore replied.

"The technique of building a stable positronic matrix to accommodate the size of an android's head is very difficult, the only person alive who knows the technique is the Supreme Commander, and he as expressed no interest of doing so. The only other person in history who knew how to do it was my creator, Doctor Soong, who passed away three years ago." Lore said.

"We are in visual range" The tactical officer said.

"Onscreen" ordered the Captain.

The viewscreen lit up with something that shocked the crew to their very core. The ship before them, minus the hull identifiers and insignia, was identical to the _Endurance_

"Another Galaxy Class?" Asked one of the bridge crew.

"Let's find out, open hailing frequencies"

 **USS** ** _Enterprise_** **NCC-1701-D Bridge**

Captain Picard awoke in his chair to find Data, who was standing and watching the viewscreen as a ship came into view. It was clearly Federation in design but beyond that he simply didn't know at the time.

"Data, where are we?" the Captain asked.

"It appears that my theory about an interdimensional wormhole was accurate, we are in the Mazar system, with another ship on an intercept course, which its transponders identified as the RSS _Endurance_." Data Replied.

"The ship has entered visual range" Mister Worf informed.

Picard ordered it onscreen. Its hull was grey and was shaped like the _Enterprise_. Its markings were nearly identical to the _Enterprise._ The only difference being the Starfleet insignia, which was more angular than the Federation Starfleet's, but, still generally the same.

"A Galaxy Class starship…" muttered the Captain.

"They are hailing us Captain" Worf said.

"Onscreen" Captain Picard ordered.

At that moment, the _Endurance_ 's bridge appeared on screen, the bridge was virtually identical, except for the user interface on the bridge computers and that the walls were more grey. The crew wore different uniforms. Unlike the Federation Starfleet, _Endurance's_ crew wore grey uniforms, with their division colors on their shoulders. However, the tactical officer was clad with silvery combat armor, with red markings in the same pattern as the others and a blue visor shaped in a similar way to Alex. The conscious crew couldn't help but notice an Android with a striking resemblance to Data on their bridge.

"I am Captain Theodore Braxton, of the Republic starship _Endurance_ " the _Endurance_ 's Captain started as he walked towards his viewscreen.

"I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard, of the Federation starship _Enterprise"_ Captain Picard replied.

The other Captain held up a PADD given to him by Lore just a few seconds before the channel was opened.

"Captain, what was the shuttle's name you crashed on 21st Century Earth?" the _Endurance_ 's Captain replied.

Picard was puzzled by this very random question, but he answered, "Justman"

Captain Braxton lowered the PADD, and said, "Captain, I would like to discuss recent events with you in person, would you care to beam aboard my ship, and you may bring whatever security detail you wish."

The Captain gestured for the channel to be put on hold.

"Opinions?" The Captain asked.

"Too much of a risk sir, we do not know who they even are." Worf said.

"Counselor- "the Captain was stopped when he realized that she was still unconscious.

Picard buried his face in his hands as he walked to the tactical console, and found the most annoying alert sound, and broadcasted it to the whole ship… at max volume.

With an unpleasant looking jolt of sound, the bridge staff along with the majority of the ship was rudely awoken. Jean-Luc Picard walked down to his chair and gestured to Worf to reopen the channel.

"We will accept your most gracious offer; we will beam aboard shortly." said Captain Picard before he finally closed the transmission.

"Worf, Data, and Councilor you're with me." The Captain said as he gestured towards them to the turbolift.

The crew in question nodded and left their stations only to be replaced by the junior staff. They strode to the turbolift doors, which whooshed open as they huddled in the small, cylindrical lift. "Transporter Room" Captain Picard ordered the computer.

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

 **Transporter Room**

Captain Braxton, along with the Android Senior Lieutenant entered the transporter room aboard the _Endurance._ The Captain had to admit, it was a bit unnerving to meet the singularity of a rumor that has been floating around the Republic ** _before_** its conception. Although officially before now there was no record of a starship named the USS _Enterprise_ with the identifier tag NCC-1701-D, the Supreme Commander did place hints in some low-level, generally unimportant broadcasts during peacetime. Such as Federation in his broadcasts, for no apparent reason. This got the attention of some tin-foiled hats. Some believed this was some indication that Starfleet was about to perform a massive coup on the civilian government ( _No-one seemed to have remembered what happened when a certain Admiral tried to do that exact thing_ ). When confronted, the Supreme Commander merely said "I cannot talk about this, due to Starfleet Directive Omega-21, subsection 7. Which is the official name for a section in the Temporal Prime Directive, which states, _no person shall reveal information about the future from what was shown to them by temporal incursion._ The Captain was snapped out of his thoughts when the transporter chief said, "We are ready to beam Captain Picard aboard"

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, the Captain replied "Very good".

The Captain fixed his uniform as he heard the familiar sound of the transporter.

Four forms appeared, two Humans, a Klingon and an Android.

They finished materializing, and Braxton spoke, "Welcome aboard, this is my Chief of Operations, Senior Lieutenant Lore."

Picard visibly stiffened at the mention of that name, but he replied, "Thank you Captain, this is my Chief of Operations, Lieutenant Commander Data, Ship's councilor Dianna Troi, and my Chief of Security, Lieutenant Worf."

Braxton nodded and asked "Shall we take this to the observation lounge?"

"Very well" Picard replied.

The officers left the Transporter Room, and headed for the nearest turbolift.

The turbolift doors opened, and the officers disembarked. They were on deck one, and the observation lounge was dead ahead. Picard saw two officers the hallway. He could have sworn that they were identical. The doors whooshed open as the officers approached the door, and they all sat down.

"The rest of my senior staff will be joining us shortly." Said Braxton.

"Very well, but I must know, what is the United **Republic** of Planets." Asked Picard.

The Endurance's captain fixed his uniform and spoke "The United Republic of Planets was founded on August 12, 2161. Republic Starfleet is the successor to the UEG's Earth Defense Force, which was founded in 2017 with what was at the time the UN, Director, now Supreme Commander Daniel Flynn.

At that moment, the rest of Captain Braxton's senior staff entered the observation lounge. The tactical officer had his helmet hooked to his belt.

"Our files on the United Federation of Planets are very vague, in fact the only mention of your government is in a report that was declassified just over an hour ago" Lore continued "written by the Earth Defense Force."

"That is impossible, I met Daniel at the Autobot base over 300 years ago, and no one could live that long" Picard said.

"Captain, I do not believe the Republic Starfleet's Supreme Commander's medical history is relevant. What is relevant are the changes that have happened to the Universe since you left." The Captain replied.

"Captain Picard, are your people aware of the alterations the Universe is experienced after you left?" Asked Lore.

"Alterations?" Replied Captain Picard dumbfounded.

"Since you left Autobot Outpost Omega-One, the universe changed, Galaxies appearing out of nowhere, we have studied this phenomenon and came up with some very disturbing results." Lore informed.

"What results?" Worf asked.

"In order for you to understand, you need a basic model of not the universe, but the multiverse" Braxton continued "Imagine a cube made of spherical bubbles, of infinite size, now the bubbles aren't perfectly aligned with each other, due to the nature of the spherical shape. This area is known as the void, a place where there is nothing, no space, no structure, no up or down, and it is infinite. Now in another nearby universe, something happened… someone or something released a massive amount of energy in the form of Z-Neutrino energy, but curiously it was compressed into a single string, canceling out the electrical charge that holds atoms together. Essentially canceling out all of creation. Somehow it was stopped, and the walls of their universe resealed themselves. However, the walls between four universes were broken, and like bubbles the universes combined. Our universes were two of the several that combined, explaining why you are here. The reason why you originally came to the 21st century, was due to the tachyons in the breach."

"That is the reason we had no records of the Autobots, the EDF-" Data said.

"Because they never existed in your timeline" Lore finished.

Data was still curious about Lore, now that he fully understood the situation, he couldn't help but wonder if there was another Data in this Galaxy. However, if Lore was the Android to succeed instead of Data, wouldn't that erase him from the picture entirely? Dr. Soong would have no reason to create him. As Data pondered this very question, Braxton suggested, "Captain Picard, I would suggest that that the _Enterprise_ follow us back to the Sol system, where we can analyze the situation further."

"Very good, we will return to our ship and follow you, we _can_ follow your transponder signal." Picard said

Theodore was a bit unnerved to know that they could read their transponder signals, just like they could read the _Enterprise's._

"Lieutenant Green, please escort our guests to Transporter Room One" Braxton said to the Tactical officer.

"Yes Sir" Soren replied.

With that, Jean-Luc Picard's crew was escorted from the observation lounge. Picard noticed the sheer size of the tactical officer named Soren, he was at least a foot taller than Worf. The councilor also felt something about this Soren, the amount of pain that she felt from him was dull as in he has felt it for a long time. Something happened during his early childhood, and he felt hatred and anger towards a group. Not the Republic, nor the Federation, because when Braxton spoke of it his hatred seemed to die down a bit. Perhaps this Republic saved him from these people. All evidence was pointing to that conclusion. As much as the Councilor wanted to help him, she knew she couldn't just yet. Not until the Federation and the Republic were on less shaky ground.

The turbolift doors opened, and the _Enterprise's_ away team entered.

Worf however saw a different part of the security officer. A warrior, a lonely warrior who has been in constant battle… with himself. Before anything else could be thought, the turbolift doors opened, and its occupants vacated the lift.

Picard and the away team entered one of the _Endurance's_ Transporter Rooms, and stood on the transporter pad.

The Republic transporter chief spoke "Energizing in 3, 2… 1".

 **USS** ** _Enterprise_** **NCC-1701-D**

The away team exited the bridge turbolift of the _Enterprise_ and took their stations. A feeling of general unease could be felt by the entirety of the crew. There were families aboard, children! How would they get home?

"What is the status of the _Endurance_? _"_ Picard asked.

"They are powering their warp drive, Sir." Data replied.

Seconds later the other ship jumped to warp, leaving a small trail of blue particles in its wake.

"Follow them." Ordered Picard.

"Matching course and speed of the _Endurance,_ Sir." Replied Wesley.

The Enterprise suddenly jumped to warp.

"Captain, the _Endurance_ has informed us that it will take approximately three days to arrive at the Sol System at Warp 7." Worf said.

"Very good, I will be in my ready room."


	2. Preparations

**_Captain's log, Stardate 44307.3, we seem to have been transported beyond our Galaxy, to one which is almost identical. The interstellar state we have found calls themselves The United Republic of Planets and after a brief meeting aboard one of their ships, we are in route to their home solar system, which appears to be the Sol system. Hopefully, we can discover a means of transportation back to our own Galaxy, as Mister Data has calculated it would take thousands of years to return through conventional means._**

 **Chapter 2- Preparations**

 **USS** ** _Enterprise_** **NCC-1701-D**

 **Bridge**

The duty shift was about to end, Data was watching over the bridge, as he does so during the night hours. He gazed at the Starship ahead of him, it was there on their view screen for about two days. Data made note of every starship they passed, many using the same RSS Prefix that the _Endurance_ uses. Data wondered if there was or is a ship named _Enterprise._ RSRN-1701 perhaps?

The Command Chair's console beeped, indicating a shift change. Data watched as all of the officers that he had been working with for hours leave the bridge, replaced by many of the Senior Staff. Suddenly, the turbolift doors opened, and Captain Picard and Commander Riker exited. "Report Mister Data"

"Since I have been on night watch, we have passed 64 starships most with an RSS Prefix." Data informed.

"64? That is nearly double what we encountered last shift." Picard said in awe.

"It would be logical to assume that as we get closer to their home world, the denser the population of starships." Data concluded.

At this point they were passing by Terra Nova, and the Captain retreated to his ready room, only to be welcomed by a very unwelcome entity in his chair with his legs on the table.

"MON CAPITANE!" Q yelled.

Picard just stood there, for the longest time when Q said.

"Well don't just stand there, say something!"

" **GET OUT OF MY CHAIR** "

Q sighed and snapped his fingers, and the Captain and Q switched places.

"Q, I thought you were destroyed when the singularity formed-"

"Mon Capitaine, surely you have figured out by now?"

"It has been suggested that the universe has somehow merged with another one" Picard said as he leaned forward.

"Well actually it was seven universes merging into one- "

"But you actually expressed fear… the look on your face before you disappeared was pure dread"

Q seemed to be embarrassed, until he spoke.

"Well, erm… this has actually never happened before, when more than one universe collapse into each other, I thought we were falling into the void… and that would have killed me." Q said grudgingly.

"Q, is there a way for us to get back to our Galaxy?" Picard inquired.

"Of course, the merging has formed an intergalactic wormhole network, you just need to find them"

After that statement, Q was gone.

The Captain just sat there, silently for about five minutes. He then pressed a few buttons on his computer terminal and it opened a channel to the senior staff.

All the Captain said was "Conference".

The Captain then left the ready room with intent.

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

Commander Braxton was sitting in his chair.

"Captain, you have a priority one transmission from Starfleet Command, on secure channel" Soren said.

"Send it to my ready room" The Captain replied, getting up and heading to his ready room.

The doors opened, and he was greeted by his terminal, which was made of glass. He sat down at his desk, and pressed a few buttons and the Computer spoke. "Please enter security code"

"CCX-1235-2514-1142" Replied the Captain.

"Access granted, opening secure channel" the Computer informed.

It was him, the Supreme Commander of Republic Starfleet: Daniel Flynn. The Commander was without words for a few seconds. "Supreme Commander, what can I do for you sir?" Braxton smiled.

"Commander Braxton, I have heard that you have made contact with a USS _Enterprise_ , correct?"

"Yes Sir"

"Have you read my _extraordinarily detailed report_ on them?" The Supreme Commander asked, sarcastically.

"Yes… Sir"

"You are in route to the Republic Military and Science Core?" Flynn asked.

"Yes Sir, we are a day away at warp 7" Braxton replied.

"Good, you are to escort the Enterprise to the RMSC, they may dock at Mars Spacedock, or assume a standard orbit… Flynn out" The channel closed, and the Captain of the _Endurance_ slumped in his chair. This was the first time the Republic made first contact with a being from one of the parallel galaxies… officially.

 **USS** ** _Enterprise_** **NCC-1701-D**

 **Observation Lounge**

The _Enterprise's_ bridge crew sat at the observation lounge for yet another one of their conferences.

"It would appear that Q has confirmed the _Endurance_ 's theory about us being here, and as far-fetched as it sounds we appear to be in a different, yet parallel Galaxy." the Captain started, "Q added that the 'merging' of the four universes has somehow created a wormhole network, and that we would need to find the right wormhole for us to get home"

"We are about 24 hours from the coordinates that the _Endurance_ gave us, Sir" Data added.

"Captain, crew morale has taken a hit from this _incident,_ some are even thinking that they will never see home again" the Councilor warned.

"Councilor, please do your best to reassure the crew, we must not allow fear and doubt to cloud our judgment. Data… is there a reliable way to scan for wormholes?" the Captain asked.

"Wormholes often emit tetryon particles… it is possible to localize one by scanning for tetryon particles, however Q seemed to have implied that the wormholes are stable. The Federation has no record of any stable wormhole, therefore it is impossible to know what exactly to scan for." Geordi said.

The Captain hummed in acknowledgment, and finally concluded.

"We will keep on our current course; this Republic seems to be hospitable enough Number One?"

"Aye, sir"

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

Duty shift alpha was finished, and Soren was relieved from duty, he was looking forward to getting back to Mars and rejoining his team, being a tactical officer wasn't really his cup of tea. He was designed to fight. He entered the Turbolift, doors whooshing shut as it descended. Hopefully the Republic will find a replacement tactical officer for the Endurance, Soren thought as the Turbolift doors opened. He exited, and made way for his quarters, he decided he was not going to be social tonight. It was a _very_ conscious decision, as socialization in general didn't come natural for him. Which was very odd considering he was a commando, which literally in the job description states that he _must be able to socially blend in and adapt for infiltration purposes._ This wasn't to say he couldn't do his job. It was just that this specific portion he wasn't a natural at. This would be surprising for anyone who was an outsider glancing at his file, considering he was a _natural_ at nearly everything else.

Soren entered his quarters, he was very organized, with all of his things neatly organized. He cast his helmet lazily on his couch, and wandered over to his closet. His armor hissed, and the sound of locks unlocking pierced the silence of the room. After the last lock disengaged the armor seemed to split in the center, with both sides opening to a 90-degree position, revealing the rest of Soren's body. He had a tactical division uniform on underneath the armor.

All officers were issued combat armor, although most only wore it during scenarios that called for yellow alert. His combat armor however was the Commando variant, which was only assigned to Second Generation Starfleet Commandos. He was using slightly dated combat armor, a Mark XVIII.

He then walked forward without his armor, and after he was clear, the armor sealed itself shut. Soren then went and got his helmet, and secured it on his armor where his head would be. The empty combat armor hissed again, signifying it has been pressurized. At that moment, his helmet's visor stopped glowing.

Soren sighed and walked to his replicator and ordered a glass of water. He then sat on his bed… gazing at his armor. Soren couldn't help be grateful, the Republic has given him so much, when he had so little. The Republic gave him purpose, a reason to fight unlike those who originally brought him up. One day he might come to terms with what they did to him. It took fifteen different surgeries just to get his body back to normal. At least for one of his kind. He owed everything he had to the Republic, and he would give his life to uphold it… even if that went against his old comrades.

 **USS** ** _Enterprise_** **NCC-1701-D**

Councilor Troi exited a turbolift and headed to ten-forward, she was still pondering her experience aboard the _Endurance._ There was a sense of loss aboard the ship, something happened recently… the ship lost someone. She felt the exact same amount of loss when Tasha died aboard the _Enterprise._ Then it came to her, Soren wasn't even the tactical officer at all, he was a temporary replacement for Tasha which would explain the anxiety to leave the position of tactical officer she felt from him.

Troi entered ten-forward, she saw the _Endurance_ only a few kilometers from the _Enterprise_ , traveling at warp speed. They were only a few light years away from their destination. Sighing, the councilor walked over to the bar, only to be greeted by none other than Guinan.

"Is there something I can get you?" Asked Guinan.

"Yes, I would like a chocolate sundae." Replied the Councilor.

Guinan nodded, and headed to the replicator, only to comeback with two chocolate sundaes, apparently one for her as well.

Guinan took a bite from her sundae, and asked "So, are you going to tell me what's on your mind?"

"It's this tactical officer on the _Endurance,_ Soren, he seems to have this... aura of guilt, pain and loss. It is like something happened to him during his early childhood, and this Republic saved him from it"

"Could be abusive parents, Dianna." Guinan suggested.

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

Soren couldn't sleep. And he decided he wasn't going to sit here wasting time staring at the ceiling. He opened his closet, and found his armor. He took the helmet off, and pressed a few buttons on the armors wrist to open the armor. He then stepped in, and the armor sealed shut. He put on his helmet and immediately his HUD appeared. It informed him that he didn't have another duty shift scheduled, due to his last one being the last one on this ship. It also informed him that they wouldn't be arriving for another six hours. He dismissed the notifications with his thought and exited the room, on the way to the holodeck.

As Soren walked down the hallway, he saw two officers kissing, one in combat armor, another in fatigues both male. Just before Soren walked by, he scanned the officer in combat armor's transponder. He looked up his file and said. "Sub-lieutenant, aren't you on duty?"

"Y-yes sir, I was just on my way to engineering" the armor clad officer replied nervously.

"Make it so, be sure that you do not get… distracted again" Soren finished as he walked away.

He approached the holodeck doors, he briefly glanced at the control panel to see if it was in use. It was not. Soren walked up to the doors, with them opening he found himself in the empty grid.

"Computer, activate tactical scenario delta-two-one" ordered Soren.

Immediately the holodeck changed to a jungle setting. The holographic sun was intense, someone without some form of sun protection could would get burned within minutes of exposure.

"Computer, spawn a PR-25 rifle."

At that moment, a PR-25 appeared on the ground. The PR-25 is classified as a type III phaser.

Soren grabbed the rifle, and moved through the jungle. He activated his interphase cloak which allowed him to not only be completely invisible, but to be able to phase through normal matter. The ultimate cloaking device. Its downside is that it took great amounts of energy to cloak, and is not sustainable for long periods while moving. Normally he would have just activated his active camouflage, which takes significantly less power. But could be spotted with a keen eye.

Soren remembered the purpose of this scenario. _Free the enslaved miners inside the enemy base, ensure they escape unharmed._

Soren reached a clearing, only to find a base stylized as a castle. It was heavily guarded by a battalion of Breen. _This is going to be interesting_ Soren thought. Soren moved to the castle wall. He had his back to the wall, ready to phase through when a warning appeared saying that auxiliary power was failing. Grudgingly he switched to active camouflage, to allow his armor's power cells to recharge. He saw a lone Breen soldier veer from his post, away from the castle, most likely to go on patrol.

 _Now is my chance_ Soren thought.

Soren followed him into the jungle. Once they were out of sight Soren de-cloaked and put his wrist mounted energy sword through his back. The Breen dropped his weapon. Soren then used his holographic disguise cloak to take the form of the fallen Breen. As a Breen, Soren turned heel and walked through the Breen's defenses, without them even batting an eye to him. Soren then took the turbolift to the mines. When he arrived, a Breen asked in their electronic tongue "Identification please"

"Sure" Soren replied, in the Breen language.

At that moment, time seemed to slow down the drops of water leaking from the mine's roof slowed down about 3 times. He undisguised, drew his energy blade and jabbed it right through the Breen's torso. Before the guards could react, he drew his rifle and set it to level 12 wide beam, and eliminated them all in one swift strike.

"GO!" He yelled at the miners.

The miners scrambled on to the Turbolift, and after all the miners got on he got in front of them and pressed the button to ascend. Soren slowed time again when the doors opened. He shot five Breen in half a second. He ran out, and dropped the guards stationed on the castle wall before they could even comprehend there was a breach.

The miners began to run through the courtyard, heading for the exit with Soren covering them. Some of the guards resorted to shooting the prisoners, but Soren took them out first.

As the last miner escaped the simulation froze, the computer then spoke.

 **"** **Mission Successful. Time: 1 Minute and 45 Seconds"**

 _Definitely not breaking any records today…_ thought Soren.

"Again" Soren said.


	3. The Briefing

**Re/OS 47.4.41**

 **[PROGRAMMER'S LOG]**

 **/************************************************************************************************

 ** _*Tap *Tap. "Is this thing working? Ah, yes! Hello again, it's me! Uhm… now there is a slight probability that whatever alien database Memory Theta is connecting to download these stories has a feedback section. In the event that it does, feel free to leave a review or comment. This thing may be commanded by a Challenger Class AI, but sometimes I think it's creative English is at the level of three-year-old. In a nutshell, if you have time please consider leaving a comment so that he may improve his writing and/or correct a mistake. Thank you._**

 ** _**********************************************************************************************/_** **[END PROGRAMMER'S LOG]**

 ** _"_** ** _Captain's log, Stardate 44308.4 we have arrived at the United Republic of Planets home system, which bears a striking resemblance to that of the Federation. Which is not surprising considering everything else about the Republic is similar… but not identical. We have assumed a standard orbit around the Republic's Mars."_**

 **Chapter 3 - The Briefing**

 **USS** ** _Enterprise_** **NCC-1701-D**

"Captain, we are being hailed, audio only" Worf informed.

"Let's hear it" said Picard.

A somewhat computerized voice spoke. "Greetings USS _Enterprise,_ welcome to the Sol system alpha, you may dock your ship in Mars Spacedock, or you may continue in a standard orbit. Beam down coordinates will be provided shortly, do not attempt to beam directly into the facility, doing so will cause the transport to be blocked."

The transmission was cut. "Rather cautious aren't they; Number One?"

"Yes sir," Riker replied as he gazed at the viewscreen.

"Captain, we have received transport coordinates." Worf informed the Captain.

"What is the status of the _Endurance_?" Asked Picard.

"They have entered what appears to be Mars Spacedock." Data replied.

"Mister Data, Councilor with me." Jean-Luc Picard ordered.

The Captain and his officers entered the nearest turbolift and said "Transporter Room"

 **Republic Military and Science Core**

 **The Docks**

The Captain and his away team materialized in a large, what appeared to be a turbo-train station, with trains going back in forth between the main facilities they were told not to beam into. There were hundreds of people transporting in and out of this area, it was similar to Tokyo or London during rush-hour. The people going through this area were in all sorts of positions, some were in combat armor, and some they could tell were civilians. Finally, the away team noticed the armed guards in combat armor guarding train line. They then saw a Republic Starfleet officer approaching them, it was an Android. One that looked like Data. He had four silver pips on his uniform, he was a Commander.

"Greetings, I am Commander Data of the Republic Starship _Endeavour_. I have orders to escort you to the Supreme Commander's office in the Command Sector." the Republic Commander said.

"Very well" Picard replied.

Data, the Captain and Deanna Troi followed the Republic's Data, to downwards ramp, revealing another train line, this one almost completely devoid of life, except for the twenty guards all in combat armor. A roof mounted sign read "VIP Line".

The first guard stepped forward, and scanned Commander Data's combadge, after which he stared into space, as if he was looking at something. He then gestured the group to move forward. The first thing Picard noticed about the VIP Line was that the train car was much smaller and designed to be less compact.

"What is the purpose of this separate line?" Asked the Federation Starfleet Lieutenant Commander as they entered through the train doors.

"The VIP line is a high security line designed for high ranking officials, diplomatic purposes and for emergencies. Only those with the rank of Commander or above can use it freely. The train lines from the docks are for security purposes, since this facility is the center of operations for Starfleet, security is of utmost importance."

"Is the rank of commander equivalent to captain?" Picard asked.

The train began to move, and the Commander replied.

"Our very limited files on the Federation Starfleet do not have details on rank structure, however if your rank of captain has the same responsibility as the NATO rank OF-5, then yes, it is equivalent. Starship commanding officers are referred to as captain aboard their own starship due to tradition, even though no such rank exists in Starfleet."

The train entered the tunnel heading straight for the main facility. The tunnel was made out of a glass that was completely transparent, allowing for the occupants of the train to see the Martian surface.

"Could you explain your rank structure?" Asked Picard.

"Certainly. Our rank structure is a uniform one, meaning that the rank titles are virtually the same, regardless to the position of the officer. For instance, there is no rank of Colonel or Major our rank structure, as Commander and Senior Lieutenant cover those positions already. Our rank structure shifts down depending on the amount of personnel are in service at a given time. It shifts down to a minimum sub-lieutenant 6th class. However usually the most junior rank is 2nd sub-lieutenant. The most senior rank is Supreme Commander, the only one who is holding the rank, is Daniel Flynn. If you would like further information, I believe the Supreme Commander would be happy to give you access to our non-restricted files." Said the Republic's Data.

"Sir, may I ask you a question?" Asked the Federation's Data.

The Republic's Data cocked his head to the other Data and replied "Yes?"

"Did Doctor Soong create you?" he asked.

"Yes, Doctor Soong was an expert in micropositronic nets, and he designed my body alongside Daniel Flynn, in fact Daniel is the only one who actually knows how to solve the problem of the electron resistance along the neural filaments."

"Micropositronic net?" asked Lieutenant Commander Data.

"A micropositronic net is a miniaturized positronic net, similar to the Microprocessor revolution when a supercomputer with a 10,000th the processing power of my minor Isolinear co-processors. The original positronic net was designed by Daniel Flynn in 2017, when he activated the first challenger class prototype P.R.I.M.U.S. It was the first truly intelligent computer. However, when the United States' found out about this, they demanded that all schematics were to be handed over to them. Grudgingly the Director gave them the plans, with a big note saying that the morality programming was not perfect and it required adjustment for each AI that was created. However, they did not head his advice, and built a new challenger prototype called "SkyWEB" without fully understanding the ramifications-" Data was interrupted by the train reaching its destination.

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

Soren clocked in a quite long holodeck session of about six and a half hours. Although he had been on holodecks for far, far longer than that. Many outsiders would consider the Starfleet Commando Generation II program to be degrading, and too stressful. In comparison with the SPARTAN-II program, the Starfleet Commando program was like they were taking a vacation physically. Not that the Starfleet Commando program was inferior, it was just that Starfleet had more evolved ways of teaching advanced tactics and discipline. Without having to resort to psychological manipulation and augmentation on children. Commando combat armor allowed even a basic non-augmented human soldier to be able to emulate most of the Spartan-II's abilities. He rarely _ever_ read any of the intelligence reports regarding the UNSC, especially the SPARTAN program. It brought back painful memories. He didn't know what to think when he heard about the UNSC was on the verge of being destroyed by a xenophobic alien covenant. Part of him was happy and it was karma for them. But another part of him, the majority of him was sorry for them… not all of the UNSC were corrupt spooks. In fact, most of the UNSC was innocent in his eyes, even the Spartans.

He entered his quarters, he had little time to pack up. He went to the replicator and ordered it to create a bag for him to put his things into. He then went to his closet, grabbing his uniforms and combadges. He then left the closet to get the only other real possession that he really cares about, his old dog tags (which he deactivated when he " _left_ " the program) from when he was a recruit in the FLEETCOM Military Complex. It was a reminder of what he once was, and who he once served. He placed them in his bag, and left his old quarters.

Soren made his way to the bridge, to confirm his departure from the ship and to say goodbye. He entered the nearest turbolift and headed for the bridge, he genuinely hoped that the Captain would be on the bridge as he really did not want to hunt throughout the ship to find Theodore Braxton. And although it was not required that an officer first confirms with his commanding officer, it is polite and to be honest, Braxton was a darn good officer in Soren's opinion.

The turbolift doors opened and Soren walked out to find the Captain in his chair twiddling his thumbs. Soren moved so that he would be visible to the Captain and spoke "Permission to disembark, sir?" Asked Soren.

The Captain stood up, he straightened his uniform and said "It has been a pleasure serving with you during the past month. I hope to do so again, permission granted"

The Captain shook the Lieutenant's hand, and Soren left the bridge. He headed for nearest airlock that was connected with Mars Spacedock. As he left, he felt a small tinge of sadness as he left the ship he called home for a month. But being a Commando meant not getting attached to pretty much anything. Just as he left the _Endurance_ his HUD informed him he had an incoming transmission… from Vice Admiral Pressman himself. The executive officer of Starfleet Intelligence.

He stopped what he was doing and answered the transmission. The Admiral appeared on the left side of his HUD.

"This is Lieutenant Green, how can I help you, sir?" He said.

"Ah Lieutenant. We must discuss your next operation; it is of vital importance to the security of the Republic" he continued "you aren't going to like it"

"Sir?" Soren asked, dumbfounded why the Admiral would make such a remark.

"We will discuss that when you get here, I have already put the briefing location and time on your calendar. Pressman out"

The Lieutenant was puzzled with the Admiral's haste; it wasn't like the Admiral to leave _all_ the details to the briefing. And he did say that he wasn't going to like it. _What could it possibly be?_ Soren thought. He checked his calendar, the briefing was in two hours, in the intelligence sector of the RMSC. Soren sighed, then picked his bag up and made way for the transporter down to the surface.

 **Republic Military and Science Core**

 **Command Sector**

The Captain and his away team exited a turbolift that they entered after they got to the central transit hub. Which was where the VIP line lead to. The Republic's Data lead them through a hallway that lead to waiting room. The wall directly in front of them had a neon backlit sign reading "Republic Starfleet Command". Behind the desk, three troopers in combat armor worked, while another ten simply roamed the room. The Captain noted that the only officer of the Republic that he saw that had combat armor that was Silver. The guards here, and the rest of the personnel in combat armor wore white combat armor. With the color of their division as their secondary color. Also unlike the tactical officer, their visors were black. What was strange was that most of them were of the same height to each other. Data spoke quickly to one of them at the desk, he nodded, and pressed a few buttons on his terminal that opened a heavily armored door. The councilor noticed how these troopers looked at her, how everyone in this place looked at them. They looked at them like legends. The Republic's Data gestured for them to come along, and they complied. Through the door was a rather large turbolift, which they went into. Without even a command, the turbolift ascended.

The away team along with the Republic's Data exited the turbolift, there were in a large hallway, with the left wall being a massive window that showed the Martian landscape. It was sunrise over the inhospitable desert. It reminded the Captain of his Galaxy's Mars. There was a massive door at the end of the hallway, where two troopers with similar armor to Soren's approached. "I am sorry sirs; no weapons are allowed beyond this point" the Trooper in charge said.

"Of course" The Captain replied, handing them his Phaser alongside Data.

The guards then scanned them up and down with dedicated tricorders; as they are generally more accurate than the ones integrated into their helmets.

"You may proceed" The guard said.

The Captain nodded, and pressed the door chime.

"Enter" A familiar voice ordered.

The Doors opened, and the Away team walked inside the large office. It sported a large window, with a glass desk in front of it. It was very well organized. The Councilor noticed a glass wide closet on the other side of the room. With twenty different armors. You could see the evolution in design with every revision. The first six revisions were not even exoskeletons, but rather armor plates that attached to the wearers body glove. Data could tell that the alloys used were changed quite drastically from a Kevlar-like material, to Titanium-A, to Duritanium, and finally what appears to be Tritanium. The person who sat at the desk defied the Captain's expectations.

Before he could say anything Captain Picard said in a very soft voice "How is this possible?"

Daniel Flynn sat there, he looked only a few years older than he did when he met the shuttlecraft crew at the Autobot outpost.

"I knew you were going to ask that Captain, what it has been… 300 years since we last met?" Daniel replied, getting up from his desk.

The Captain stayed silent before he continued,

"Huh, well there have been some hard times since then. You know, I wanted to retire did you know that. In fact, there have been numerous times I have attempted to leave, but there is always something that drags me back into… this." Daniel sighed, "I already had a long and successful carrier when I first tried, in fact I planned for death to be my retirement. And my body did die, quite a long time ago…"

"I do not understand; your body can not be dead when we are speaking with you right now" Asked Data.

"Well, this body isn't really a living organism, not biologically speaking" replied Daniel.

The councilor put it all the pieces together instantly "You made yourself an Android?"

"Well **I** didn't myself, you see I was on my old body's death bed, and I was ready to die… but my some of my most loyal supporter found the schematics for a prototype neural-electrical pattern to positronic transferal device, in addition, to the first ever prototype micropositronic brain… you can see this is leading Captain."

 **Republic Military and Science Core**

 **Intelligence Complex**

Soren crossed the line between the Main Complex and the Intelligence Complex. The hallways were significantly different to that of the primary complex. They were far gloomier in Soren's opinion. His HUD guided him through the maze of hallways to the conference room. The doors whooshed open, and Soren walked in to only see Admiral Pressman. None of Soren's squad was here though. He would personally beat them for being late for a meeting with an Admiral no less.

"Please sit down Lieutenant" said Pressman.

Soren complied and sat down at the conference table, the Vice Admiral had a coffee in his hands along with a datapad.

"I apologize sir; my squad is usually not this late" Soren explained.

"Actually… I never called them, this will be a duo mission." Pressman said flatly.

"Sir?"

"The less people know about what has happened the better, you are competent in duo operations, are you not Lieutenant?"

"Yes… Sir"

The Admiral got up and straightened his uniform, then spoke "I will be honest Lieutenant, I was about to pass this mission onto another Commando… however he is currently… occupied. But given your record you seem to be adequate for the job."

"May I ask what that job is Sir?"

"In short your mission is a mission of protection, ideally without your protectorates knowing, if you guys fail it could cripple the reputation of the Republic in a potential first contact scenario."

"Who will I be protecting, Sir?"

Pressman slid the Commando his PADD and said "The **UNSC** , primarily Doctor **Catherine Halsey.** "

 **RSMC - Supreme Commander Daniel Flynn's office**

The Captain pondered what the Supreme Commander said, he was _forced_ to live. He did slightly pity him, if he was being forced to command the whole Starfleet for over 250 years would drive him insane, the Captain thought.

"Supreme Commander, when we have been in Republic facilities, we saw what appeared to be people who looked-"

"Like clones?"

"Yes… Yes!" Replied Picard.

Daniel got up out of his chair, and walked over to the massive window behind the desk.

"After you left, and the universe was merged and the war with MECH only intensified. Something I forgot to mention to you was who MECH's leader was. It was not Silas, he was just a figurehead, SkyWEB, the United States military AI based on my designs. SkyWEB was at constant odds with the EDF's Central AI, P.R.I.M.U.S. In fact, they were of the exact same design, save a few differences in morality programming. They fought over the US nuclear launch codes. SkyWEB was attempting to create an AI empire, and MECH was its elite arm, humans acting as mere puppets. When SkyWEB learned about the Cybertronians on Earth, he deployed MECH to capture samples to reverse engineer in order to gain an advantage. Because of this massive tactical advantage, the EDF began to crumble, our outposts across the globe fell to the artificially created titans. We at the time used specially designed Combat-Droids as our primary fighting force, and for the time they were fearsomely advanced. But they were no match for the 'Opti-Droids', as Alex called them." Daniel continued "However, I cannot tell you how we beat SkyWEB, not without breaching the Temporal Prime Directive, but we did. By this time, it was 2025, and the world was slowly decaying into chaos, we were up against various terrorist groups. Eco-terrorism, Neo-Nazism, think of some barbaric practice in human history and there was a group campaigning for it. We tried so hard to keep the peace, but it was in vain. A few decades' later countries started banding together, and started firing nuclear warheads at each other."

The Supreme Commander's face contorted with grief. He continued again.

"As the last real remaining UN division, it was our duty to restore order after the bombs fell, and I tell you even though we have developed far more advanced and deadly weapons then the Hydrogen bomb. The Hydrogen Bomb is still the most devastating, because not only does it bring a painful death for those in its blast radius, it also brings years of suffering from those beyond."

"By this time, we had developed light-years more sophisticated combat-droids. We managed to restore order to most areas, but the suffering… so many lost. Our primary facility was destroyed in a nuclear attack by the Eastern Coalition that learned of our presence in Antarctica. We were scattered, I barely survived the onslaught. If we tried to rebuild, we would be destroyed, most likely for good. So I decided to abandon Earth, and setup operations on Mars, we only took all we had, P.R.I.M.U.S' central matrix, a couple thousand droids, assorted and a few months of supplies."

"I had designed the first warp drive in 2021, and developed a space frame to go with it, known as the NX-Class, which I had designed to explore the strange world known as Cybertron, where the Cybertronians came from, it was only used for one expedition, then it was mothballed for years due to the MECH war and later World War III."  
"After we arrived, I knew that we would need something new for our comeback. A more intelligent, more adaptable warrior, one who could feel pity, remorse, question orders and most of all have a moral center."

The Captain put it all together and uttered "You created an army of clones?"

The Supreme Commander nodded "You have to realize, we were at literally at rock bottom, people were being slaughtered by the millions every day, and children were being forced to work in forced labor camps, starving and dying. My own creations were literally destroying each other under different banners!"

"Yes, I know… this part of our histories are similar." Picard said.

"We did not tamper with the clones' minds, they made all of **their** decisions, and we did not indoctrinate them to believe in anything. We gave them the **choice** to leave, and, some of them did."

"Also, shortly after us arriving on Mars, we had visitors, we did not expect anyone to have traced our warp signature, let alone follow to investigate."

"Vulcans?" asked Data.

"You know, for such a logical species, they are quite generous in terms of giving relief supplies."

"We thanked them, and they were on their way, they said they would check on us in a few years to see if we were ready for full blown first contact"

"What year was this?" asked Picard

"2055, and they returned a decade later on Earth"

At that moment, the Supreme Commander's comlink went off, "Sorry to interrupt you sir, but the RSS _Resolute_ has detected what appears to be another wormhole."

The Captain seemed surprised, and asked "You have discovered other wormholes before?"

"Only one, it leads to a Galaxy in which humanity is governed under a singular government, similar to the Republic, however they have recently ended a war with a genocidal Alien Covenant. You thought that I was immoral for creating clones? The UNSC, specifically ONI kidnapped six-year-olds, children of specific genetic requirements and augmented them into super-soldiers, for those reasons we have avoided contact with them at all, and we have only recruited four members of that galaxy, all of which were augmented by them. And before you ask, they asked ** _us_** for asylum."

 **RSMC- Intelligence Complex**

Soren looked at the Admiral, shock in his eyes. He finally was able to compose himself and asked,

"What has happened?"

"You aren't the only ex-SPARTAN-II in our ranks, Sub-lieutenant Daisy, former Spartan-023, has just gone AWOL, she has taken a Type 7 Shuttlecraft… last we heard she was on her way towards the UNSC"

"Is she defecting back the UNSC?" Soren asked.

"Unlikely, based on here psychographic profile, she would rather die than rejoin the UNSC and the SPARTANs. We calculate there is a 95% possibility of her taking revenge against the UNSC, and more specifically… anyone that happened to be involved with the SPARTAN II program."

"I do recall her loathing Spartan Kelly-087, and Chief Petty Officer Mendez." Soren commented.

Soren shook his head, most likely snapping himself out of some horrible thought and asked. "Sir, may I ask who I am assigned to?"

At that moment, the doorbell rang, Pressman said "Speak of the devil, Enter!"

The door slid open. Soren cocked his head to see who it was. His eyes turned into saucers as he recognized who it was from the intelligence reports.

" ** _You…_** "


	4. The Noblest of Commandos

**Chapter 4 - The Noblest of Commandos**

 **Republic Military and Science Core**

 **Supreme Commander Daniel Flynn's office**

Captain Picard sat there stunned about what this ONI was capable of, he felt nothing but contempt for those who use other people and alter them for their own purpose. The Supreme Commander was right, what the Republic does would be questionable by Federation standards, but what the ONI does is appalling. The Captain composed himself, "Daniel, may we investigate this wormhole?"

"Yes, the _Endurance_ will escort your ship to it, after that the Endurance will verify your safe return and leave your Federation in peace, we will send exploration ships through as soon as possible and hopefully our governments can get a lasting dialogue going." Daniel said soon after standing up.

"I believe that will be acceptable, I must return to our ship." Said Picard.

"Very well," Daniel said as he turned his head towards the nearest guard and said, "Please escort our guests to the docks."

"Yes Sir,"

"If you will follow me," said the guard to the Federation away team.

The guard then escorted Jean-Luc Picard, Data and Counselor Troi out of the Supreme Commander's office.

 **Republic Military and Science Core**

 **Intelligence Complex**

"Lieutenant Green, meet Sub-Lieutenant David Zanders, formally Spartan-B312 or Noble Six."

For a second Soren just sat there in awe, this Spartan was supposed to be the John-117 of the Spartan IIIs. David was in Commando Armor with his helmet attached to his belt, and he was clearly in the tactical division. He then calculated the best way respond, and he came out with this.

"So… you're the one who likes combat knives and assassinations" Soren said humorously.

Six showed the slightest smirk, then spoke, "Soren-066 I presume?"

"In the flesh." Soren replied.

"I assume you have been watching this briefing Sub-Lieutenant" the Admiral asked.

"Yes, Sir!"

"Good, your mission objectives have been uploaded to your Tactical computers. You are to depart immediately. Dismissed" Pressman

As Soren and Six left the room, he was still in shock, his mind was racing with questions, primarily… HOW THE HELL IS HE ALIVE? Both UNSC and Republic intelligences records confirm his death. But here he is, in commando armor helping him defend the UNSC. Then again, no Spartan is ever listed KIA for a good reason.

He checked his mission objectives, they were first to requisition one of a new class of runabouts, known as the Danube class. They entered a turbolift, and David said "Central Transit Hub".

The turbolift moved. _This is going to take a while_ , thought Soren. It was constantly changing directions, moving through turboshaft after turboshaft. He was going to ask B312 what the hell is going on here and why he left the UNSC if he actually survived, but he decided that was a conversation best saved for the long runabout trip. Besides, it would be quite embarrassing for them to get in some sort of argument and the turbolift stops for someone else. Fortunately, that did not happen, and both ex-Spartans exited the turbolift. They then caught the next train out of the main complex and to the docks. When they arrived at the docks, they beamed up to Mars Spacedock.

Mars Spacedock looked very much like a 21st Century airport, except in space. Soren noticed the _Endurance_ was being prepped for departure. Which was not surprising in the slightest for Soren. Orders often were given so quickly these starship captains have to scramble to get their crew together for departure.

Dead ahead, they saw a big sign on the roof saying "Shuttle/Runabout requisitions". There was barely any lineup, and they got to the officer at the desk within a minute.

"May I help you gentlemen?" asked the officer nervously, clearly intimidated by their commando armor.

"We have a requisition order for a Danube class runabout." Said David.

The officer scanned his armor's transponder, and pulled up his file.

"You must be on an outstandingly important mission, this class of runabout is just out of the prototype phase, and in fact you will be flying the second ever built Danube class."

Soren simply nodded. The Officer pressed a few buttons on his keypad and said.

"You're getting the RSS _Fraser_ , it appears to have been reconfigured just a few hours fit your mission, whatever that mission is… it is deeply classified-"

"Your job isn't to go around seeing what we will do with the Runabout, your job is to get us said runabout" Soren scolded.

"Of course, it is being sent boarding dock 54." The Officer replied with haste.

Soren nodded, and both Commandos headed towards dock 54. Time was of the essence, Daisy could do a lot of damage to the UNSC, even in a Type 7. They would be completely unprepared, especially after the Covenant War. And the Republic's weapons and shields technology is superior to that of the Covenant.

They arrived at dock 54, and the two commandos were quite impressed by what they saw. Four photon torpedo launchers, armed to the teeth in phasers for a runabout. He was just waiting to see what was inside. There were two guards in front of the airlock, which instantly let them enter on sight. They didn't even stop them to scan their transponders. I guess you really don't see two of the Republic's finest class of soldier aboard this station that often. As they boarded the runabout, David felt a bit sick… to think that a Spartan, a soldier designed to uphold the peace could do something like this? Then he remembers the only other group who does similar things. His blood boiled when he thought about ** _them._** ONI.

"You are clear for departure" said the automated traffic controller system.

"Affirmative" Replied B312.

Soren noticed that the _Endurance_ was leaving Spacedock the same time they were. Soren would never admit it to anyone, but he did secretly enjoy his time aboard, to have a place that he called home for more than a week was very… relaxing for Soren.

At that moment, B312 engaged the thrusters, and the _Fraser_ crept out Spacedock. While Soren watched sensors to make sure no one was going to crash into them.

"Damn speed limits" muttered Six.

After about five minutes, the Runabout was clear of Spacedock and Soren said "Punch it."

Six complied, the coordinates for the wormhole to the UNSC Galaxy was already pre-set in the guidance computer. He just had to set the speed. Which he set to the maximum for the Danube class, Warp 5.

"WOO-HOO!" yelled Noble Six when he pressed the "Engage" button.

"So much for my ears…" Soren muttered.

The warp engines started to whine, and then they were gone.

 **USS** ** _Enterprise_** **NCC-1701-D**

Captain Picard and the away team exited the turbolift and took their stations.

"I presume all went well down there" Asked Commander Riker from his chair on the bridge.

"It was splendid, where is the RSS _Endurance_?" The Captain said.

"It appears to be leaving Mars Spacedock sir, they are hailing us" Worf replied.

"Onscreen" Ordered the Captain.

The _Endurance_ 's bridge came on screen, Captain Braxton was in the foreground, but the counselor did notice that the Tactical station was not manned by Soren anymore.

"Captain, we have been ordered to escort you to the wormhole that we recently detected. This will have to be quick, as I don't even have a first officer anymore… he was late for departure and we are on a schedule here, so, follow our transponder signal as we go to warp." Braxton said.

"Very good, we will comply. Picard out."

Afterwards the screen went back to the _Endurance_ 's exterior, the ship was at impulse speed and was getting away from Spacedock. The Captain noticed a very large type of shuttlecraft leaving the Spacedock at the same time. But thought nothing of it.

"Mister Worf, track the _Endurance_ 's transponder signal, when it goes to warp, follow it" Picard ordered.

"Yes Sir." Worf replied.

A minute later, the _Enterprise_ went to warp along with the _Endurance._

 **RSS** ** _Fraser_** **RSRN-72005**

Soren stared out into warp space, it was spectacular how light reacted at this speed. Stars turning into streaks of white light, while a nearby nebula would paint the night sky in its colors.

He looked at the navigation panel.

 ** _Estimated Time of Warp Jump completion: 3 Days, 10 hours._**

Soren then turned to see Six, tapping on his PADD with his helmet on the now deactivated flight console.

"How" Soren said.

"I'm sorry?" B312 replied confused.

"How did you survive Reach? According to our records and the UNSC's, The Fall of Reach was a slaughter, and you were on the casualty list!"

David sighed, he gazed out the port window. "The story starts 2552, during the final day of The Fall of Reach"

 **Reach**

 **August 30, 2552**

David-B312 was surrounded. He had already taken down ten elites and countless more grunts. His MA37 series assault rifle blazed, peppering the covenant forces with bullets. He dodged countless more plasma rounds as he switched to his M6G Magnum, due to the fact that his MA37 ran out of ammo. _I have to find a way out of here!_ David thought.

He did a 360, looking for the weakest spot in their defense. He found one, a part only comprised of an Elite minor and a few grunts. Immediately after spotting the weakness, Noble Six charged. The elite minor was surprised by his bold move, and it was sheer luck that Six was able the get to the minor unscathed. Six then took his combat knife and stabbed it into his back, but did not have time to retrieve it as the grunts started firing at him. He ran, faster than he had ever ran before.

As he made it over a hill, actually more like a mountain. Six saw something, it looked like an outhouse, but it was completely out of place in the middle of a grassy plain that was remarkably not glassed yet. Noble Six approached the structure, M6G raised as he attempted to kick the door in. He could not. Puzzled, Six looked at the door handle, the door was locked with a keypad. Determined to figure out what lied behind that door six decided to take the keypad panel off and crossed a few wires to see what would happen. Surprisingly, it worked and the door unlocked. Six opened the door, but what he found was no outhouse, it was an access tunnel to an underground facility.

Six climbed down the access tunnel, because he thought that this facility might have a radio to call for EVAC. And while it did have that radio, it also had so many more things. Things that Spartan-B312 wished he never saw. Files, endless files of the misdeeds ONI have committed over the years. Most of which simply to insure their own supremacy and goals. Mass manipulation, assassinations of peoples that could *possibly pose a threat to ONI, the cold blooded murders of those who refused to co-operate with the Spartan-II and Spartan-III programs. But there was _one_ file… one that he was so shocked by, he almost vomited. ONI… ONI purposely planted _Pillar of Autumn_ where it was so that it would not be able to escape without help, _his help_. They planned for him to die. According to the files, he had a "somewhat moderate" chance of destabilizing their next Spartan program, the SPARTAN-IV program (specifics on the program were not given). So their AI's just decided to terminate him. The fact that ONI would plot his death, even though he had been 100% loyal to the UNSC made his blood boil. He wanted nothing to do with the UNSC anymore, he decided that he would not go back with the UNSC. Even if that would mean his death.

He climbed back up the access tunnel, the first thing he noticed was the Covenant ships overhead. They were going to start glassing this area. It was only a matter of time. He wandered aimlessly over the soon to be glassed landscape, the sky was black from the smoke that the Covenant was creating glassing the planet. Out of a sudden fit of rage, B312 ripped his helmet off his head and smashed the visor in with his heel, creating a spider web effect.

"Here lies Spartan-B312, the **loyal,** the **courageous** , the **BRAVE!** WHO OBEYED ORDERS TO THE LETTER! Who was betrayed by his own…"

David stumbled, and fell on the grass. He was ready to die, arms open. He heard a notice, it sounded like some kind of ship. He did not care if it was Covenant, which would promptly put him out of his misery. It did not sound like it was landing, rather it was taking off. However, it was not an engine sound David had ever heard before. Out of pure curiosity, former SPARTAN-B312 got up and made it over the hill to see who it was.

He had never seen a ship like this before, its hull was white. It had two cylinders attached via a pylon which had blue strips tipped with red. It was very boxy in shape, although it did round out near the front. There were words on the hull that David could distinguish.

70637

Shuttlecraft 3 - Solaris

He then saw someone exit the shuttle. The figure wore silvery combat armor, with gold markings and a blue visor. He was joined by someone else in similar armor, only he had bluish teal markings. Before David could do anything else however, he was shot in the leg by a covenant plasma weapon. David cried out in pain as he rolled down the hill. The figures in combat armor turned to see what the noise was. The bluish teal figure ran up to him. Noble Six saw two other figures appear. They drew weapons he had never seen before that shot brilliant orange beams. That was the last thing he saw before blacking out from the pain of plasma searing into his flesh.

 **RSS** ** _Fraser_** **RSRN-72005**

Soren looked stunned, he didn't know what to say. Starfleet Commandos rescued Noble Six, as they rescued him. He didn't know if he should feel proudness, pity…

David snapped him out of his thoughts.

"So…" he said drumming his fingers on the console "What's your story? Because before I left the UNSC I did read up on you Soren, the one left behind… the one who tried to become an insurrectionist…"

Soren mentally laughed, the Insurrection… what a joke. A group claiming to be liberating the people from the UNSC, but they end up stooping to their level, sacrificing their men, pumping them with rumbledrugs. Not to mention using child soldiers… If they really wanted to rally support of the people, they could have painted themselves as the oppressed. The good hard-working people trying to liberate the average Joe from the government that lies from them, steals from them… I guess they did, and well… it didn't work out to well for them, did it?

 **Reach - FLEETCOM Military Complex**

 **August 29th, 2527**

There was fire… fire everywhere.

Soren coughed loudly. The Broadsword had crashed, and he was in the wreckage. Soren looked around, I knew that the UNSC would be here any second. Partch… he promised Soren freedom, and justice. He never delivered.

"Partch?" Soren called into the ashes.

Soren looked around, and then he saw him. Mangled, burned and dead.

 _What have I done?_ his mind raced with dread as he remembered what had happened.

Soren stumbled out of the wreckage, due to my handicaps. Soren looked around. He could see the marines were mobilizing, ready to capture him. His heart raced.

 _I cannot go back!_ Soren mentally screeched.

Swiftly, Soren sprinted for the forest, not caring whether or not his mangled body could handle it. The failed Spartan-II passed endless trees, jumping and dodging debris. After what seemed like days, he was deep in the forest. With no food, water or practically anything. His shirt was torn, his skin was burned and He had no home.

He stopped and took a breath, he thought he had lost them and sat down on a log. His mind was racing, trying to comprehend what was happening. But this peace would only last so long.

Soren froze when he heard a voice that he recognized.

"Soren… Soren old' buddy, you there?"

 ** _SHIT._** he mentally cursed, as he recognized the owner of that voice.

Frederic-104.

 _Aw, hell no. Anybody but him!_

Soren considered Fred more than a friend during the Spartan II training program. After the Augmentations, he felt… unusual sensations around him that only got more intense as the years went on. He never expected him to return any of the same feelings for me due to his condition, leaving him this mangled wreck. Fred came into view; he was wearing his B variant MJOLNIR Mark IV armor. He had a tranquilizer gun in his hands. He thought about surrendering, Frederic's skill was superior to his before and definitely after augmentation, although he did technically possess superior upper strength. But, he weighed my options quickly in his mind, and decided retreat was the best course of action. Suddenly, catching Fred off guard, he sprinted, this was the first real time he had used "Spartan Time" in which the world moved slower than he could possibly imagine. He could feel his feet connecting with the ground one by one.

"SOREN STOP!" Frederic bellowed.

He didn't realize that there was a log right in the middle of his path until it was too late. He attempted to jump but it was in vain. Soren tripped and crash landed on the ground. He closed his eyes, waiting to be hit with the tranquilizer dart, be taken away back to the base to be interrogated by ONI, then most likely be thrown in a hole, never to be seen again. But that dart never came. Groaning, he opened his eyes only to see Fred hovering over him, helmet off.

"You know, if you actually listen sometimes it could save you from a lot of pain" Fred cooed with a lopsided smile.

When Soren figured out what was happening, a jolt of anxiety and shock arced through my body. Soren scooted back from Fred.

"Please… please do not-" Soren begged.

"Relax, you already evaded the rest of the party. Now are you going to tell me what's going on here?"

"Mendez and friends probably told you by now" he spat.

"Yeah, I want to hear your side" Fred replied.

"I was… I was played, by Partch" He explained.

"The Insurrectionist Mechanic?" Asked Fred.

"I was so lonely over here, and bored. I felt like an inadequate monster, and look at me. That's exactly what I am! He used me and my predicament to his advantage, and lured me over to his side. Now it's over, it didn't work out for anyone in this case. Not for me… not for him. Now all I face is meager prison cell. What a waste." Soren lamented.

"Maybe not" Fred said.

He perked up, and asked "What do you mean?"

"As I said before, you evaded the UNSC, I could not have possibly found you!" He exclaimed.

Soren smiled, knowing what he meant by that.

"Thank you, Fred" Soren said getting up.

"Don't mention it"

Soren stared into Frederic's slightly cyan eyes. But, they were more metaphorically blue. Sorrow and pain were laced in his gaze. Samuel's 'death' had its toll on all of us, but no one was more affected than the members of Blue Team. But, there was something else that Soren couldn't at the time see. A twinkle in his eye. Something so very powerful and subversive to a Spartan, yet so well hidden away. Well... at least to the untrained eye.

"Oh and Soren?"

Before he could respond, Frederic grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him to be a mere centimeter (0.4 inches) away from him. He could feel cool air being radiated by Fred armor's metal plating. Soren's face was almost touching his, he could feel the minty warmth his breath against my cheek. My eyes locked with Fred's. Surprisingly at the time, he could see barely any pain in his eyes. However, the twinkle was blinding. Soren's eyes widened. _Does he actually love-_ I was cut off.

Soren felt something warm on my lips. I glanced down to see that Frederic-104, widely considered to be the second most talented Spartan-II in history was kissing me… me! Suddenly, something inside of me "clicked". My chest suddenly felt like there was napalm on it. I hadn't been properly loved by anyone… ever! My negative feelings towards life in general faded as I kissed back passionately.

Fred abruptly broke the kiss and backed off. He glanced behind him as if he had heard something. Soren knew what he meant. _They're coming, go._

 **"** Thanks Fred, for everything" I panted.

He only nodded, then he ran in the direction of the FLEETCOM complex. Soren then continued his escape as if nothing had happened.

 **Reach- Unknown Forest**

 **September 5, 2527**

Soren was starving, literally. He had been without proper food for more than a week. The last thing he had was a repugnant rodent 4 days ago, that out of necessity he ate. There was literally nothing for him to eat. He couldn't think, he was just wandering aimlessly, without purpose. He would die here in some godforsaken forest, probably to be eaten by some wild animal.

He suddenly saw a clearing, cautiously Soren approached where the forested area ended. I was surprised to see a type of ship he had never seen before. Unbeknownst to him it was a Republic Type 6 Shuttlecraft, named the _Orion._

 _They could have food…_ Soren thought.

 _Too much of a risk, if they are UNSC, especially ONI, who knows what they will do to me? But… If I do not find food soon I will die from starvation._ I concluded, he was going to take the risk.

Soren entered the clearing, but hid behind a rock as he saw four figures approach the shuttle, they appeared to be in some sort of armor, but it looked nothing like MJOLNIR. He got a closer look at the shuttle, and could tell immediately it was **not** UNSC. He got up from behind the boulder, and limped slowly towards the shuttle. He was noticed by the armored figures, as they cocked their heads his way. Before they could draw their weapons, a tidal wave of exhaustion hit him and he collapsed on the ground.

The armored figures moved in closer, weapons aimed at Soren. All Soren said was "please… please help me, take me away from here"

One of them gave me a hypospray, and the world almost instantly went dark.

 **RSS Fraser RSRN-72005**

"I was taken to a nearby Starfleet hospital, where they stabilized my condition and after fifteen surgeries, they reconstructed my skeletal and muscular systems, to repair the damage caused by the augmentation failure. I still have many of the Augmentations, parts of my skeletal structure is still made of carbide… although the implants the Republic used to replace some of the warped bones are made of Tritanium, my muscle density is still at Spartan II levels, the neurological enhancements are still present although most are now redundant with my Mark XVIII Commando Armor and I can still experience Spartan Time."

"I elected to keep some of the scars from the initial Augmentation, as they serve as a reminder of who I once was and who did it to me." Soren said, staring into space… literally.

David was shocked. He understood perfectly what he has going through, as he was going through a very similar experience. Being abandoned by ONI and being swept under the rug to make way for their next nefarious plan. What a joke.

"You're gay?" asked Six.

"So? I do not see what the fuss is all about." Replied Soren in an irritated tone.

"Nothing…" said Six, not trying to draw anymore awkwardness to him.

David composed himself, and said "I am going to check the back, to see what the Admiral gave us."

Soren nodded, and put on his helmet, as a tear was starting to form.

David left his seat, putting the _Fraser_ in Auto-Pilot and moved to the back of the runabout.

David entered the area where he thought the beds were, in reality it was a mini armory, racks of every weapon imaginable, PP-25s, PR-25s, HPR-15s, photon grenades, but something in particular caught his eye. _Am I dreaming_? Ex-Spartan-B312 thought as he picked up a particular rifle from the rack. He read the model number: PR-26-ELITE. David thought the elite variant a legend, apparently they had a "stealth" mode, turning the beam completely invisible. According to rumor the reason no one gets assigned it is because the beam focusing diode is non replicable, and can be only be found on a classified stellar body. David looked at the rack, there were only two PR-26-ELITE rifles, while there were dozens of the other types. _I guess that confirms that rumor_ thought David.

He was about to leave, when he noticed a note on the floor. It read _if you guys can pull this thing off without starting a war, consider those rifles yours –_ _ **VADM PRESSMAN**_ _._

David smiled, and left the armory to tell Soren the news.


	5. The Second Stable Wormhole

**Chapter 5- The Second "Stable" Wormhole**

 **USS** ** _Enterprise_** **NCC-1701-D**

Commander Riker was sitting in the Command Chair; they were approaching the wormhole that would hopefully send them home.

"Commander, the _Endurance_ is signaling for us to drop out of warp in sixty seconds" Wesley informed Riker.

"Very good" Riker said.

"Captain Picard, please report to the bridge" Riker said over the communications system.

"I'm on my way, Number One" The Captain replied over comms.

A few seconds later, the turbolift doors opened and the Captain appeared on the bridge. Commander Riker immediately upon seeing the Captain vacated the Command Chair and shifted over to the "Number One Chair".

The Captain sat down, and said "Report!"

"We are dropping out of warp now" Wesley said.

Immediately the _Enterprise_ dropped out of warp along with the _Endurance._ The wormhole lying dead ahead.

"Captain, the _Endurance_ is firing a probe into the wormhole" Worf said.

"Prepare to do the same on my mark-"

"Sir, the _Endurance_ is being pulled in, they are hailing us, audio only"

"Let's hear it" Picard ordered, "Red alert!"

The bridge's mood changed from that of peaceful exploration to full alert in an instant. Alarms blared and red strobe lights flashed.

" _Enterprise!_ You must get out of here! This is not a wormhole! It is a forerun-" the transmission was cut.

The _Endurance_ entered the anomaly and with a flash, it was gone. All of it, the _Endurance_ and the Anomaly, gone without a trace. The _Enterprise_ however was spared. Leaving the Captain to make a decision on what to do.

"Mister Worf, send a transmission on Federation frequencies directed towards Mars, that the Endurance has disappeared and we are awaiting further instructions"

"Sir, we don't report to the Republic Starfleet now… Do we?" Worf asked.

"I am afraid in the absence of the Federation Starfleet; the Republic will have to do" Picard replied grimly.

 **RSS** ** _Fraser_** **RSRN-72005**

Soren checked the Navigation panel, they had just over thirty minutes until they arrived at the wormhole.

 _Better make sure that everything is working_ thought Soren.

"Hey Soren, you got to try this!"

"Not now Dave I'm checking to see if the cloaking system is working!"

David snorted, and he looked at what he was talking about. Replicated Linguini with Alfredo sauce. He had always liked Italian food, even when he was a child. One of the only memories of his childhood was eating Italian food. But that was before the Covenant came, the people who robbed him of his civilian life and made him the Spartan… well Ex-Spartan he is today.

Soren pressed a few buttons on his console, and with a smirk he turned to see Dave. Soren was really indifferent about Italian food, neither liking nor hating it. He particularly liked Fish and Chips. Before he left the SPARTAN program, Soren had never once in his life tried Fish and Chips, in fact he never had seafood. Ever. But once he was rescued, he couldn't get enough of the near infinite cuisine. He once tried Klingon food… that was the first time he had vomited since the Augmentations.

Soren got up to order from the one of the replicators and said "We are thirty minutes away from the Wormhole, once we arrive in UNSC space, we must scan for any sign of a warp trail. No matter how faint, hardly any ships in that Galaxy use Warp Drive."

David nodded in the middle of chewing the last bit of his meal. Soren sat back down with his tray, filled with fish, covered in chips. David eyes widened when he saw the large plate and asked "Are you sure you can eat _all_ of that?"

Soren shrugged and replied "I'm a Spartan, I can manage."

David mentally laughed at this, he wondered what the Master Chief would think about the "undisciplined nature" of this exercise. In Soren's defense though, the Replicator actually is designed to replicate healthier versions of the "real dish". Removing almost all the fat and other unhealthy ingredients and supplementing them with healthier alternatives while pumping it full of protein and vitamins. And while it tasted virtually identical. Many food critics could tell the difference. Dave went to the replicator and recycled the tray and other discards and returned to his seat.

He was still pondering what Soren had told him about his relationship with Fred, he was probably the third most famous Spartan, next to John-117 and himself. From what David-B312 had heard about Fred, he was extraordinarily talented and not to mention the highest ranking Spartan II. It was hard to believe someone like that would let him escape, let alone for the reasons Soren told him _. Still the heart wants what the heart wants. And there is absolutely nothing logical about it_ David concluded.

"Do you remember?" Asked Soren.

"Pardon?" Replied Six, hoping Soren would not bring up a really long, bad memory.

"Do you remember your last name?" Soren asked, before taking one of the final bites of his meal.

"No"

"I remember mine, you see unlike the rest of the Spartans I was clever about how I resisted the indoctrination, every night I would whisper my last name. Over and over until I fell asleep. I felt it to be my only link to humanity, and it gave me hope."

"What is your last name?" Noble Six asked, genuinely curious.

"Green" Soren said with a hint of apprehension.

David-B312's face contorted with envy, David has wanted to know his own last name for years. But ONI took that from him, as they took everything else. Suddenly, the console started beeping. Soren went to investigate. "We are here" he said, pressing a few buttons disengaging their warp drive.

As they dropped out of warp, they noticed the massive blue spiraling vortex that laid ahead. Soren-066 and David-B312 gulped coming to their final realization that they were entering the hell in which they came from. Soren composed himself and said in a very cheery tone "Vamoose!"

Shields at 100%, Soren punched the impulse drive, and they went shooting into the wormhole. It was a very bumpy ride as they travelled millions of light years in a matter of seconds. The Runabout exited the swirling blue vortex and when they were clear Soren said "We should scan for a warp trail".

"Got it" Said former Spartan-B312.

After a few seconds of scanning, B312's console started beeping.

"We got a hit, looks like a Republic shuttlecraft. We have coordinates."

"I am engaging the refraction cloak and disabling our transponders" Soren informed.

"Affirmative, engaging now." Replied Noble Six.

The _Fraser_ jumped to warp, and Soren-066 asked, "What is our ETA?" asked Soren.

"At warp five, we will reach her in less than two hours." Replied David.

"I can't believe a Spartan could go this far off the rails… I am going to hack into a nearby ONI communications station, see if the UNSC has any kind of presence where she is that we should know about" Soren said tapping on one of the computer consoles.

"Be careful, we don't need to attract attention to us" David warned.

"I'm a Commando, I can manage"

"So, for eating ungodly amounts of food you play the ' _I am a Spartan card'_ , but when you are hacking you play the _'I am a Commando card'_. Not really painting the Spartans in the best of lights now are you?" said David with a grin on his face.

"Please, I am trying to concentr- ah-ha! I am in."

"What are we up against?" asked Six.

"Let's see… Oh no…"

"What?"

Streams of code flowed down Soren's console as he pressed a few buttons to play something.

" _This is the UNSC Marathon; we are unde-"_

The transmission cut to static. Most likely due to jamming.

"How many ships is the UNSC sending?" Asked B312.

"None, this transmission was not only jammed, but also wiped from ONI's servers. I was only able to reconstruct part of it from the server's RAM."

"How?" David asked incredulously.

"No idea" Soren replied.

"When was this sent?" B312 inquired, putting back on his helmet.

"Ten minutes ago" Soren replied grimly.

Six got out of his chair, and crouched down to get into a service tunnel, or Jeffries tube.

"What are you doing?" Soren asked in a confused tone.

"Seeing if we can get more warp power" Replied David.

"Are you SERIOUS? That could permanently damage the warp containment field, and cause a core breach!" Soren yelled.

"If we don't increase our speed the crew will be completely slaughtered and once she enters slipspace there will be no tracing her"

"Good point" Soren said, getting in the Jeffries tube with him. They got to the warp core, which was about the width of one Xbox One, while the height being about three Xbox Ones."

Soren pulled out a Tricorder and hyperspanner, waving them over the warp core.

"If we cut all non-essential power, and use that power to reinforce the containment field, that should be enough to give us warp eight for fifteen minutes, but with permanent warp core damage… it is likely that we will have to abandon the runabout after the jump" Soren said grimly.

"Remember. The mission-"

"Comes first" Soren finished.

Soren then rerouted the power, immediately the lights went out and the warp core glowed like it never had before. It was almost blinding. Soren and Six made it out of the Jeffries tubes, finding their way back to the main console, Soren put on his helmet which gave them night vision. Spartan's did have "Built in" night vision, but that only worked when there was some light in the area to begin with. The runabout was pitch black, only the starlight to guide them. Even the console's backlighting was disabled.

Soren's helmet calculated the ETA, that being five minutes.

The runabout rocked back and forth, due to the inertial dampeners working at minimal levels so that they would not be flattened against the window when they drop out of warp. In what seemed to be days for the Spartans, the Runabout made it to its final destination. As it automatically exited warp speed, the former Spartans were smashed against the front window, creating hairline fractures all over it. The consoles were also destroyed by the Spartans crashing into them. Fortunately, the Runabout was faced in the right direction, and by what seemed to be a miracle crashed in the _Marathon's_ main hangar bay… as it jumped to slipspace.

Soren was the first to re-awaken from the crash and he was on the floor along with Dave. He noticed that the front "windshield" broken, and the ship was completely wrecked. He immediately got up, and shook Six awake. They stood up together and both said at the asked at the same time "Where are we?"


	6. The Hunt

**Chapter 6- The Hunt**

Dave quickly grabbed his PR-26-ELITE along with Soren's and left the Runabout through the front window, Soren trailing behind and once Soren left the runabout, Six gave him his rifle back. Soren scanned the area, clearly a shuttlebay. His gaze rested upon the UNSC insignia, along with the ship's name "UNSC _Marathon_ ". Soren's blood ran cold. He was, for the first time in over thirty years was going to confront his fears. That wasn't a problem though, Starfleet commandos are trained from the very beginning to face their deepest darkest fears.

"Well, it would appear we made it" Said Soren.

"Let's find this bastard" Noble six replied eagerly.

Soren and David walked through the corridors in horror. Crewman, Marines… almost all of them dead by Phaser fire and the other ones seemed to have perished by an energy sword. They had no time for mourning, as they swept through each corridor, sirens wailing and red lights strobing. They had their rifles raised, ready to fire at a quarter seconds notice. A blip appeared on David's sensors. "Soren, I am picking up lifesign, very faint".

At that moment the lifesign appeared on Soren's sensors as well. "Whoever it is likely needs assistance and it is our duty to help, especially after all this." Soren said with sorrow in his voice.

They ran towards the origin of the lifesign. They ran through what seemed to be an endless maze of corridors. Until they found the origin. He was wearing what was unmistakably MJOLNIR armor. They approached the unknown Spartan until it was all too clear on who it was…

Jai-006

Soren quickly moved to the injured Spartan's side, he shook him ever so lightly and pulled his helmet off. David administered him a hypospray he got from the mini-first aid kit all troopers in combat armor carry. Soren took off his helmet.

At that moment Jai seemed to regain partial consciousness, he turned his head to see Soren hovering over him. He grabbed Soren's shoulder arm weakly and asked in a very faint voice "Why did you attack us? Who are you?"

"We did not attack you, Jai. The one who attacked you has gone rogue from my government. We must know where she went, before she can cause more damage to the UNSC" said Soren.

"She… She mentioned something… about an awakening… something waking up and… emitting subspace particles…" Jai spoke in a very weak voice.

Soren looked at Dave, confusion spreading across their faces behind their helmets.

Jai's breathing became shallow and he whispered "Adriana, I am so sorry my-" Jai went limp, and the lifesigns his body emitted were no more.

Soren rose to his full height. The rage conveyed through his eyes behind the visor was enough to know what he was thinking. "Dave, I believe lethal force is authorized".

Dave only nodded. Soren then put his helmet on, grabbed his rifle and set it to kill. The duo then marched up to the bridge. They entered one of the service tunnels, so that they would not attract attention when they snuck into the bridge.

After what seemed like miles of climbing and crawling they made it underneath the bridge. They peered through the floor grating to see Daisy in the command chair on the bridge. She seemed completely calm and composed, even after murdering over 1000 people. They cloaked and phased through the floor right behind her. Unfortunately, she noticed them as they attempted to decloak and started firing her rifle. Orange beams flew through the bridge as David and Soren attempted to find cover. Soren slid behind a computer console while David took cover behind a holotable.

"So! The Republic decided to send Commandos after me! FOOLS! YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME!" Daisy yelled, clearly deranged.

"You are a disgrace to both the Spartan and the Commando Program Daisy! You will pay for your treachery and brutality!" Soren bellowed.

A cruel chuckle enveloped the bridge. "So… they sent you, Soren. Ha, how ironic. Send the traitor to kill the traitor."

Soren left cover and charged at her, shields absorbing her rifle's beam set to level 12. He activated his energy sword and attempted to put it through her torso, only to be blocked by her shields. The world slowed down for him as Daisy activated her energy sword and knocked his blade away. At that second David discharged a continuous beam that drained her shields almost completely.

Soren then kicked Daisy **hard** in the stomach. She went flying into a computer console, electrocuting her. She fell back to the ground. Armor smoking. But nonetheless, got back on her feet. "You could be a god among men, Soren. But, no! You choose equality, and suffer for it!"

Daisy suddenly phase cloaked and dodged Soren's flurry of attacks. She then activated her energy sword and jabbed it right into Soren's chest.

Soren's shields took the majority of the blow, but, his chest plating was scorched. "I have no mercy for mass-murderers" Soren stated in a dangerously low tone.

Soren raised his rifle and set it to Level 15: disintegrate. He fired at where she stood, but, she interphased just before the beam hit her exposed breastplate, which let the beam pass right through her like a ghost.

"Oh no you don't!" David called out as he moved forward.

David set his interphase to the same value as Daisy, effectively nullifying the effect of her interphase. However, since one cannot fire a phaser in an interphased environment without heavy modifications to the phaser itself, David sprinted to Daisy and grabbed her arm. Before she could break free, David pulled himself out of interphase, dragging her along with him.

Understanding David's plan, Soren grabbed raised his rifle once again and fired another orange beam at her, this time hitting her square on the chest. However, her shields recovered a bit, and thus she didn't disintegrate.

Her armor smoked and "Ha… ha… How ironic, indeed. I would have tried to woo you to be my king… but, 734 once told me about your previous... engagements. Anyway, goodbye."

Suddenly a voice starting counting down. 30, 29, 28…

"MOVE!" Dave yelled, grabbing Soren's arm and rifle, whilst holstering his own on his back.

They made it for the nearest airlock, they could tell the ship had exited slipspace… where exactly was unknown. David blasted through the Airlock with a photon grenade, and the duo launched themselves out into what first appeared to be open space. But in reality was an atmosphere.

David and Soren were in freefall, completely unaware of the massive explosion overhead. Their helmets calculated the best path for decent, it was clear from the gravitational readings or just looking around, that they were not falling towards a planet. Rather towards the interior surface of a massive **Dyson Sphere.** The Republic had only encountered one other Dyson sphere, constructed by the mysterious Iconian race, which is believed to be extinct today.

 ** _"_** ** _REDIRECT ALL POWER TO SHIELDS AND INERTIAL DAMPENERS, AIM TO LAND ON THE WATER!"_**

David looked around, and saw the water Soren was referring to, it was a medium sized lake with a rocky beach. It was extraordinarily deep for its size, perfect for a landing at terminal velocity without a mechanism to slow down. They were just over one thousand meters from the surface, and the Ex-Spartans were preparing for their final descent. As they grew closer and closer to the surface, they repositioned themselves to be feet facing down. Time slowed down again for Soren as he crash landed on the lake. The Commandos acted as bombs falling on the water, causing the water to flow violently out of the lake, almost instantly flooding the area around it. By the time it was all over, the lake lost about 75% of its water. Soren sank in the water, hitting the lake floor.

Soren awoke five minutes later, underwater. His HUD indicated that his life support system had been damaged in the crash, and he was using his emergency oxygen. Immediately, he swam up from the bottom of the lake. When he reached the surface, he scanned the area, not detecting David anywhere. The Lieutenant swam to the shore, which was flooded up to his waist but was receding into the lake.

Soren ripped his helmet off, panting. _Where did David go?_ Soren thought. He put on his helmet again, and scanned the area for his armor's transponder, coming up with nothing. He widened his search for all humanoid lifesigns. ** _14 Lifesigns detected._** His HUD read. Immediately, the HUD plotted them on his map of the surroundings. They seemed to be clustered in one area in a nearby mountain. Suddenly many of them started to move… Towards him. He attempted to ready his weapon, only to find it missing. _Dang, I must have left it on the Marathon when it self-destructed_ Soren thought to himself as the lifesigns got closer.

He pulled out his PP-25, which was classified as a Type-II Phaser. He ducked undercover, his armor was still recharging after the less than perfect insertion. The lifesigns suddenly stopped, they formed a perimeter around the area. Soren suddenly had Déjà vu. He had seen this tactic used before but not during his time as a Republic Cadet or a Commando. _It is them… the Spartans_ Soren thought. He didn't know what to feel at that moment. Guilt, hope, dread and happiness were a few of the emotions he was feeling all at once.

He shook himself out of the rampant thoughts and focused at the task at hand. The Spartans were flanking him; he could see that. Not that it mattered, UNSC bullets were composed of Titanium travelling at about 2500 meters per second. His armor was made of a Tritanium alloy, twenty-four times harder than diamond, fifteen times stronger than Titanium. His armor also made him stronger and faster. Not to mention his armor could survive a nuclear strike at close range. _I will not engage them_ Soren concluded.

Soren got up out of cover, he switched his actual PP-25 with a with a holographic version of his PP-25 hands up on the muzzle, indicating that he has no intention to harm them. Once he was in plain view, he dropped the fake weapon and kicked it away. Nothing happened for a few seconds, the area was dead silent. Suddenly, four Spartans burst from cover, MA5C Assault rifles pointed right at him. Soren was dead still as they got into position.

"Identify yourself" A Spartan that Soren recognized as Kelly-087 demanded.

Soren did not reveal his past just yet. He did not need the Spartans to start shooting at him and throwing words like traitor around. He did **not** feel like debating his choice to leave the SPARTAN II Program. Not until he located Ex-Spartan-B312

"I am Lieutenant Green, SCX-771, Second Generation Starfleet Commando of the United Republic of Planets." Soren responded.

"What is the United Republic of Planets, is it an Insurrectionist group?" Kelly asked accusingly.

Soren noticed that Fred was not with them, last time he checked he was a part of Blue Team. Soren hoped nothing happened to him.

"Negative, the United Republic of Planets means no harm towards the UNSC. We have avoided contact with the UNSC for various reasons. Reasons I am unable to disclose. My mission was to apprehend, or if necessary terminate a rogue Starfleet Commando. Who we believe was on a revenge mission, against the UNSC."

"Why? You just stated that your Republic has no quarrel with the UNSC, why would anyone from your Starfleet want revenge against us?" Asked another Spartan Soren couldn't identify.

"I am not authorized to answer that question, but I can tell you this. I partially failed in my mission, the Former Commando in question slaughtered the entire crew of the UNSC _Marathon,_ including Spartan Jai-006. After which, I managed to complete my mission. Although her termination is not confirmed."

They visibly stiffened, and Kelly finally said in a low voice,

"Jai is dead?"

"He suffered fatal phaser blast, his MJOLNIR armor absorbed some of the pulse, but not enough to save him, he died slowly but not painfully, due to the affects a phaser has on the central nervous system. Literally frying it at higher settings. If there was a medical facility nearby, he would have survived." Soren said in monotone.

"My condolences" Soren added.

Soren could tell that this news was having an impact on the Spartans, but in order to see it you would have to be an incredibly talented observer. Their shoulders slightly slumped, as their hands formed fists.

"My mission is complete, however without transportation me and my… partner is stranded here."

"Partner?" Kelly inquired.

"Two commandos were sent on the mission to apprehend the Rogue Commando, for redundancy. We were separated after we crash landed on the surface."

"I have scanned the area, and found no sign of him." Soren concluded.

He let his shoulders sag, he couldn't keep this façade on for long around the Spartans, and eventually they will figure him out. And when they do, he was not going to run away like last time. He would make his stand.

"You may return with us to our base" Kelly said in monotone.

"Thank you, I am sorry, I did everything I could for Jai" Soren said, letting his sorrow seep through in his voice.

Kelly nodded, and the Spartans lead the way. "How did you know Jai's name?" asked one of the Spartans.

"He told me" Soren lied.

The Spartan simply nodded. According to his sensors, they were arriving at where the Spartan's lifesigns were originally clustered. It was a cave, but not just any cave. Soren's sensors were picking up massive energy fluctuations from the cave. Fluctuations with a **Forerunner** energy signature. He entered the cave, only to discover it was a control room of some kind. But that wasn't what bothered him, what bothered him is that he was greeted by two faces that he really did not want to be greeted by.

Doctor Halsey and Chief Petty Officer Mendez.

The Doctor looked at Kelly and nodded after Kelly performed the Spartan gesture that meant "stay cool".

"So, you were one of the two who fell from the sky?" Doctor Halsey asked.

Soren simply nodded. His body was as stiff as the Tritanium that made his armor's plating. Mendez noticed this and remarked "You remind me of a Spartan, son"

"I would not find that surprising, Sir. I belong to the Starfleet Commando-II program, which has an average proficiency score of 87, which is the highest score in our records. According to intelligence estimates, the Spartans are around that area. Although the Spartan and Commando skillsets are quite different."

"Who are you, Son?"

"Lieutenant Green, of the United Republic of Planets, we mean you no harm. As I explained to your Spartans over here I was on a mission to apprehend, and if necessary terminate a Rogue Starfleet Commando. The mission has been carried out, though not without cost."

"What cost?" Halsey asked.

"The crew of the UNSC _Marathon_ was slaughtered by the hands of the Rogue, including Spartan Jai-006 by a fatal phaser blast"

The room was silent; the Doctor face was unnaturally neutral. She had the emotional control the Spartans had. Mendez seemed very disturbed by the news.

"Who was it? I have a right to know who killed one of my Spartans"

Again, another curveball thrown by the Doctor towards Soren. He cleared his throat and said "That's Classified, although my armor is constantly recording for the historical record-"

At that moment her self-control shattered, her face contorting to pure rage.

"DAMN YOU!" She shrieked, punching and kicking his shielded armor, making her knuckles bleed.

Mendez and the other Spartans pulled her away from Soren. This whole display was completely unexpected by Soren, who was merely trying to figure out what will happen next, although he found it futile.

"You actually care about us?" Soren whispered in shock, guilt washing over his body language.

"What?" the Doctor replied shakily.

Everyone stared at him trying to comprehend what he just said. Halsey started looking at him suspiciously, like she had seen a ghost.

Soren composed himself and replied "Nothing, it is irrelevant!"

"You said… you actually care about us… US! Lieutenant Green, Green, I have heard that last name before…" the Doctor pondered.

Her eyes widened in realization. The Spartans simply stared blankly at Soren, not knowing what to think. Soren stepped back defensively like she had a Type-IV phaser pointed at his head. It was over, she **knew** who he was. Mendez saw this, along with every other Spartan in the room.

"Lieutenant, what is your first name?"

It was over and Soren knew it, but he was going to sneak one final blow for his cause before he gave in.

"Ma'am, I am willing to answer your question if you answer mine" Soren said, allowing his natural way of speaking to take over.

"I am listening"

"Where is Fred?" Soren asked, with a twist of fear.

She was taken aback by the question, the Spartans looked shocked that he **knew** the name of one of their comrades. "He is on a scouting mission; he should return soon" Replied Halsey honestly.

She could tell that he observing her very closely, for any signs of deceit. But she could tell that he found none.

"In response to your question, my first name is Soren. Lieutenant Soren Green"

The Doctor nodded, her face contorted with grief and she stared at the floor. "Soren, I am so sorry. I failed you. I…"

Soren's features hardened. "Doctor, I do not require your pity. I am a Starfleet Commando. We are the pinnacle of special forces. We may not have augmentations by default… but any one of us could sure as **hell** take any one of your oh so special Spartan-IIs, even your posterchild: 117." Soren boasted, much to the Spartans' offense.

"I have thought about what you did over the years… in fact Doctor, I have to thank you for what you did"

Doctor Halsey's seemed confused, how could he be thanking her for turning him into a monster was beyond her.

"Doctor, if you hadn't have botched my Augmentation. I would have just become eventually just another Spartan. You do recall what my mindset was during my time training? _Stay in the anonymous middle, don't achieve any_ _relatively great feats and stay out of sight_. Do you know what that kind of attitude would get me during the Covenant war?"

"You…" Mendez uttered, realizing who he was.

"Death" was all Halsey replied.

"Exactly, I would have died a nobody on a random planet just to be listed as MIA. I would have died not realizing my full potential. Because of you, I rebelled and attempted to join the insurrection. When that failed, I fled into the forest. I expected to live the rest of my days as vermin, scavenging for food like a wild animal. Then they found me: Starfleet. They took me in and patched me up" Soren said as he paced around the control room.

"I had fifteen long grueling reconstructive surgeries to reverse the damage done by the botched Augmentation. The Doctor that worked on me said that if you adjusted the thyroid implant to work in sync with my pulse, my Augmentations would not have failed. He gave me a list of possible counters for the side effects of Augmentation, a list that I do not have on me at the moment." Soren admitted.

"However, something else changed when I joined Starfleet… my attitude. When I was a trainee at the United Republic Academy, after I was fixed, I made a conscious decision to not waste the second chance I was given. I was given freedom and choice, and I chose to become the best Commando I could be" Lieutenant Green proclaimed.

The Spartans had their neutral faces on, a face that conveyed no emotion. Absolutely terrifying for a Commando, who is trained to read those emotions and use them to his advantage. He did not speak a word as he saw they were processing what he had just said. He could tell that the all the Spartan-IIs knew who he was, what he did. Their minds were concluded. The other Spartans, that Soren could only guess as Spartan-IIIs were still thinking about it.

"You are a traitor" Kelly spat, in a deadly tone.

Soren stared down at the floor, like a dog being punished by his master. He could have easily retorted that comment, say that she is a coward and weak for allowing herself to be indoctrinated. However, even though he knew that if never left he would be miserable, he still felt like a traitor.

"The Spartans left me behind to fend for myself, and I did."

Those words seemed to resonate with all of the Spartans, even Kelly looked somewhat sorry for him, Linda seemed to have forgiven him.

"There is one small thing that does not add up though…" Mendez said.

"And what is that?" Soren replied.

"How do you remember your last name? The records of all the Spartan-II candidates were destroyed years ago by ONI! And the Spartan… training is designed to make you forget your past ties." Mendez asked, with a hint of guilt.

"Ah, that… You see I kind of deviated from the training a bit, mouthed my last name every single night after everyone fell asleep, so that I would not forget it."

At that moment, his helmet started to beep, indicating his HUD had something for him. He put his helmet on to see what was the matter. There was localized spatial fluctuation approaching the cave. "What is it?" Asked Mendez.

"I am reading what appears to be someone using a malfunctioning cloaking device" Soren said, pulling his PP-25 phaser out of a hidden compartment in his leg plate. He made the Spartan hand signal that signified an unknown ahead, and to wait.

He aimed the Phaser at the entrance of the cave. Expecting Daisy to pop out of nowhere. A figure decloaked and said.

"You know, I expected a welcome more along the lines of 'You're alive! How are you doing my _dear friend_ David?'"


	7. Getting More Endurance

**Chapter 7 - Need more** ** _Endurance_**

Soren lowered his Phaser and said "I am sorry, I thought that you were somehow Daisy with the malfunctioning cloaking device"

"Ah, you know other than us and the Forerunners no one in this Galaxy has sensors that can see localized spatial fluctuations" David reminded.

"Yeah, yeah... All clear!" he yelled back into the cave. Not using the _oly oly oxen free_ phrase as that would risk compromising the secret as there were people around who did not know what the code meant.

The Spartans immediately got out of cover to see who was there. Dave's armor was more or less identical to Soren's. He handed him his PR-26-ELITE. And they walked back in the cave

 ** _"_** ** _Do they know?"_** Asked Dave over the comms.

 ** _"_** ** _Yeah."_** Soren replied, with a hint of defeat in his voice.

 ** _"_** ** _Also, on my way here I saw Fred sitting on a log alone"_**

 ** _"_** ** _Acknowledged"_**

As they entered the main control room, the Commandos noticed the amount of attention

they were receiving from the Spartans "Whether or not you wish to reveal your identity is your business, but I warn you. I have been a Commando for over twenty years. And they figured me out." Soren warned.

David simply nodded. His gaze laid upon Halsey and Mendez, who watched him enter. They seemed like ghosts to him. "I assume that you are Soren-066's partner". Halsey said.

"Yes Ma'am" David said in monotone.

"What is your name?" the Doctor asked.

It was now or never for him. All eyes were on him. Either he would lie, and possibly go through the drama that Soren went through, or he could tell them the truth. He opted for the latter. "I am Sub-Lieutenant David Zanders, Second Generation Starfleet Commando, service number SCX-1107. However, you would know me as David-B312 or Noble Six."

The last part shook the room's atmosphere once again as David took his helmet off, revealing who he was to the UNSC forces present. He explained what happened on Reach to the Spartans, who listened very carefully. How ONI set him up, and how the Spartan-III inside of him died that day. Soren had seen more emotion from the Spartans during this encounter... then in his entire life. Which was not a lot of emotion in itself in the grand scheme of things. He really did not know what was going through the Spartans' heads when he told them what ONI was willing and capable of to meet its own ends without benefit to the rest of the UNSC. Perhaps it was thoughts of treason, mutiny, or thoughts of feeling safe under ONI's ever watchful eye. Soren was fairly certain it was not the latter, but he could not be certain.

Just as David's story was reaching its climax, Soren enabled his interphase cloak and slipped out of the base. He disabled it when he exited the base, making sure no one followed him. The Commando scanned for lifesigns other than the ones in the base. He found one, about 100 meters away, near the lake he crashed into earlier. He quietly approached the lifesign. It was him, Fred. Helmet off. He could see his lips move, meaning he was talking to himself. He moved in closer to hear what he was saying.

"Soren… I wish you would have just made it through the Augmentations. Even before them, I had feelings for you. Feelings that I was unable to reconcile until that fateful day so many years ago… after John met that Corporeal, I was so… upset that I could not find someone. Then it hit me, you… you are who I have always thought about. I wish… you could find me. I need you Soren-066."

Soren felt his heart melt hearing those words. He wanted to just tackle him to the ground and kiss him. But that wouldn't end well for him, not until he knew who he was. He needed to be clever, and even though it was difficult in this situation. He was a Commando, he could manage. He reached for one of his armored pockets and after a bit of digging found his old UNSC dog tags. He threw them past Fred's head into the dirt in front of him, which was about twenty meters.  
Fred heard something crash onto the ground. He looked down only to see they were UNSC dog tags of the old style, circa 2527. He picked them up and turned them over to see who they belonged to. It read ** _SPARTAN-II Candidate Soren-066._** Fred turned around, only to see his wish come true.

" **I found you** " Soren smirked.

Fred's eyes became massive saucers as he recognized that voice. He didn't move, most likely because he thought he was hallucinating. Soren could see all self-control melt away in his eyes. Without warning, Fred ran up to Soren and threw him and himself to the ground. Soren had obviously disabled his shields for this as would have normally repelled him. Fred ended up on top of Soren, with armor on. Normally this would have also crushed any Non-Spartan, but Soren was a Spartan with an exoskeleton composed of Tritanium and Duranium. Fred ripped Soren's helmet off and kissed Soren passionately on the lips, not stopping until his oxygen ran out… which was about ten minutes. "You have no idea how much I have missed you" Frederic said slowly.

"I heard" Soren painted with a seductive twinkle in his eye.

 **USS** ** _Enterprise_** **NCC-1701-D**

"Sir, I am reading massive energy fluctuations on our port side, 5 kilometers away"

"Onscreen" Ordered Picard.

For a second only empty space appeared onscreen. Then what appeared to the crew as an Excelsior Class starship decloaked.

"Captain, according to the transponder codes that ship is the RSS _Endeavour_ RSRN-2017… They are hailing" said Worf.

"Put it through" Ordered the Captain.

The bridge then appeared onscreen. It looked _similar_ to the Excelsior class in service in the Federation, but with some differences. The most striking thing about this ship was its Captain, who Picard had met before.

"I am Captain Data, of the RSS _Endeavour._ We have been monitoring the situation, we were unable to decloak in time to do anything for the _Endurance._ The anomaly in question was Forerunner in origin, an elder race from Milky Way Gamma."

"Elder race?" Asked Picard.

"A race who has reached unmatched technological supremacy over most other lifeforms in the universe, known examples of an elder race are the Q and Iconians." The Republic's Data replied. "However, to our knowledge the Forerunners died out nearly 100,000 years ago."

"Then how could they abduct the _Endurance_?" The Captain inquired.

"While the Forerunners themselves are to our knowledge extinct, their automated systems remain functional to this day. They are said to have mastered Artificial Intelligence, among various other disciplines including propulsion at Transwarp speeds" Data informed.

"Captain, we should hold position at least a lightyear away to await orders. I think it is in our mutual benefit not to end up like the _Endurance."_

"Agreed, we will set course to the coordinates provided. Picard out."

With that, the transmission was terminated and the _Enterprise_ jumped to warp speed once again.

 **Unknown Dyson Sphere**

David finished his story, the Spartans looked disgusted. To think that ONI could order the death of one of the UNSC's greatest war heroes was appalling. Not that they didn't know that ONI did some shady things in the name of humanity. But this? This was treason on the spirit of the UNSC. Mendez looked around the room, he could always tell if a Spartan was missing. It was sort of a sixth sense that he acquired training them, as they would always attempt escape. He then realized who was missing. Soren. So he asked "Where is Soren?"

David shrugged his shoulders pretending he had no idea. While in fact he had a very good idea what he was currently doing. He chuckled to himself, he was happy for Soren. For any Spartan to have someone to care for was a huge bonus.

"So… I never asked, what _are_ you doing on this Dyson sphere?

Doctor Halsey turned her head to face David. She replied "We are stranded here, this Dyson Sphere. Also known as Shield World 006, is bigger on the inside and we are trapped inside. We arrived here from a Planet known as Onyx, which was actually comprised of trillions of forerunner sentinels. We attempted communications with the UNSC, but the sentinels placed a dampening field over this whole system. No communications get in or out of this place"

David's face contorted with worry, and said "Well, I hope that the Republic finds us soon, I will be out on patrol."

"Anyone care to join me?" He asked louder than before.

"I'll go" Kelly responded, with her usual Spartan neutral face.

"Great! Allons-y!" Dave grinned.

As they left the base, he realized his mistake of using too much emotion with her and said "Oh, I'm sorry if I made you unconformable, you see it is kind of in the Job description of the Commandos to be sociable… to best blend into a social environment. Sometimes I get a bit carried away. I really-"

"It is fine, just don't do it again." She said, with a hint irritation in her voice.

Ex-Spartan-B312 raised his hands in defeat. When he detected two lifesigns on sensors. Kelly noticed them too. Dave knew who those lifesigns belonged to, and he would hate to intrude. Kelly was about to make a turn on the path to see who they were but Dave said,

"I don't think that is a good idea, I will investigate. You should stay here to back me up if necessary."

"I am not a marine; I can manage the unknown" Kelly retorted defensively.

"It is not that; you know what phasers are capable of. Those who do not have sufficient shielding are most of the time instantly killed by a Phaser. No matter where you get hit…" Dave said solemnly.

"I am coming with you" She said once more.

David sighed, he knew this could only end badly for everyone. But he did not exactly have a choice at the moment.

"Very well, but if you get Phaser burned, go cry to Doctor Halsey, not me."

"Spartans don't cry"

David sighed in defeat, Kelly was not going to be deterred. He admired that quality in everyone who has it, even when it leads them to opening a can of lekgolo. David and Kelly then set off to find the origin of the lifesigns. They were nearing the lake, David remembered this was the last time he saw Frederic, sitting here alone. It would be logical to assume that Soren would confront him here. Kelly and Dave saw something on the ground, it was made of a silvery metal. Kelly crouched down to pick it up. She dusted off the object. It was a dog tag. It read SPARTAN-II Candidate Soren-066.

Kelly assuming the worst immediately drew her Assault Rifle she had holstered on her back. She approached the lifesigns with caution as David loosely followed her. Making as much noise as possible without drawing suspicion to him from Kelly. As they went over a small hill something caught Kelly's eye. Frederic's helmet and Soren's helmet.

"This could be a trap" Kelly warned.

David facepalmed harder on his helmet then he has ever facepalmed before, with both hands no less as they proceeded. Kelly and David then noticed Soren's armor… standing with no one in it, and Fred's armor disassembled. Kelly was starting to catch on to what was happening… but not entirely.

"087, I would strongly suggest that we do not proceed, surely that you can see what is going on" warned Dave, who was desperately hoping that her psychographic profile wasn't accurate.

She looked around, and her eyes widened in realization as she put the pieces together. David expected her to politely slip out. Unfortunately, she happened to do the exact polar opposite. She threw down her assault rifle and furiously marched over to where the lifesigns were emanating from, Dave running after her. She suddenly stopped and turned, only to see Fred sleeping in Soren's arms. Soren had his Starfleet uniform on, while Fred had his undersuit. They were completely oblivious to Kelly and David's presence. Behind her visor, Kelly's face scrunched up in anger. Anger that Fred would fall to the dark side, like John apparently before him. Although John had fallen in love with some random female marine that fell in a persistent coma. Kelly pulled out her M6G and fired it in the air, waking the sleeping Spartans up.

Both Spartan's eyes flew open, only to see Kelly with her helmet on. Just by her body language both Spartans knew what she was thinking. And it was certainly not positive.

"Kelly? Wh-What what are you doing here?" Fred sputters, face turning a deeper shade of crimson by the second.

Kelly only holstered her pistol and crossed her arms, walking away. She was pissed, they saw that. The only expression on their face was that of embarrassment. They quickly got up, only to see Dave over to the side. Still facepalming from before. "I am sorry; I did not think that you would get this far so soon…" Dave muttered.

"I'll speak to her; I would suggest that you two get to the base. Hopefully she will not do the same thing to you guys as she did to John. Just hang tight" He finished walking away.

Soren and Fred looked at each other, and quickly got in their respective armor.

They did not know how the rest of the Spartans would react to their relationship, if the reaction to John's was any indication, most likely with disapproval. Although John's relationship was with a marine, while their relationship was "Pure Spartan". They quickly ran back to the base, entering one at a time.

"Ah, Soren" Mendez started. "I don't know how they do it around your Republic, but where I am from, you tell your superiors where you are going before you take off!"

"With all due respect, Sir. Even if I was in the UNSC, as a Lieutenant I would still outrank you." Soren replied, satisfaction lacing his voice.

Mendez's face scrunched into a very upset look. He turned on his heel and left him in peace. Soren moved over to where Linda was, who was cleaning her sniper rifle.

"So, you're still the team's sniper, eh?" Soren asked, merely to start a conversation.

"Yes I am" was all she said.

"Not surprising, you always were the best sniper out of all 75 of us." Soren continued, reflecting upon his years as a SPARTAN-II candidate.

She winced at the number he said, mostly because only half survived augmentation and unfortunately the majority of the survivors died in battle.

"Still, I wouldn't want to hand you a Phaser Rifle, you would be unstoppable." Soren chuckled.

"Oh?" Linda asked, actively trying to suppress her curiosity.

Soren pulled out his Phaser Rifle attached magnetically to his back plating, and said "twenty power settings, twenty different customizable firing patterns, no noticeable recoil, and 99% accuracy… actually more like 99.998% accuracy.

"This was the same type of weapon that killed Jai…" Linda said, her face contorting into a face of sadness, which was barely noticeable to anyone who happened to not know the Spartans.

"What a remarkable weapon" a voice chipped in.

Doctor Halsey walked over to see Soren and Linda, only overhearing _half_ of their conversation. "May I?" the Doctor asked looking at his weapon.

"Of course" Soren replied, handing her his weapon.

At that moment, Fred walked through the entrance, he received a glare from Mendez for the same reason Soren did.

She inspected it very carefully, inspecting the barrel, the power source… everything. _This is light-years more advanced than anything I have ever seen, even Covenant weaponry can't hold a candle to this_ the Doctor thought.

She suddenly had an idea, she moved to the makeshift firing range that the Spartans used to keep their skills sharp, and aimed the weapon at a dummy. She fired, the weapon was clearly set to beam mode. After literally a second of her pulling the trigger the dummy exploded into a flaming mess. This caught the attention of all of the Spartans in the Room. Including Fred.

"That. Is what killed Jai" Soren grimaced.

Halsey quickly gave Soren back his weapon, who then holstered in on his back. He turned to face the other Spartans. Who were still marveling at the destructive capacity of a mere rifle. He then said. "The Republic's weapons normally are about average on the scale of destruction in the Republic's Galaxy. Many races where I come from have this sort of technology. This is really only the tip of the iceberg of the weapons our galaxy has come up with."

"MJOLNIR armor's shielding cannot withstand any setting over level six for over ten seconds, which is also known as maximum stun. After which the shields will fail, allowing the beam to go right through your armor. Setting 7 is the first kill setting. It isn't called a 'kill setting' for no reason. It will kill you, that's exactly what happened to Jai. Setting 7 causes cascade atomic disruption in organic material."

"How do you know this?" Asked Doctor Halsey suspiciously.

"That's classified." Soren responded in a teasing tone.

Halsey grunted. "Oh the Military and their secrets, so tiring" Haley sighed.

"First, Starfleet is NOT primarily a military organization, Second… I can't believe you haven't figured out how we know almost everything about the UNSC-"

"You TOLD them, didn't you? Everything! The hand signals, the all clear code-"

"Even though I was vengeful and full of hatred, I did not and will not betray my fellow Spartans. Ever. Beware of what the definition of betrayal is. I will never shoot a Spartan in the back, but if somehow a war does break between the UNSC and the Republic, I will uphold the Republic's banner to hell and back…"

The Spartans remained silent as Soren went on his rant. At that moment Kelly and Dave entered the room. Kelly took her helmet off and looked at Fred, then at Soren who were at opposite sides of the room. Her face was that of disappointment as she walked away, probably to think. Doctor Halsey noted this behavior, as it was very uncharacteristic of a Spartan to show any emotion. Unless they were particularly upset with another Spartan.

 _Kelly has once shown this type of behavior before, when John got together with that Corporal Adrianna Aurther…_ Halsey thought.

The Doctor's eyes scanned to room to find Dave, he was displaying curious emotions as well, such as embarrassment, dread and… fear? Doctor Halsey rubbed her eyes, thinking she was seeing things, but the expression remained. His shoulders were slumped as he walked over to a chair to sit down. He was deep in thought.

Soren soon finished his rant. He did see Kelly enter and leave the room, though he paid no attention to it. He figured that the best way to handle this was to avoid her at all costs. She was either going to tell the Spartans or she wasn't going to, there was no changing that.

Though Soren did hope for the latter, the Spartans knowing would just complicate things, especially if ONI got involved. If they knew he loved Fred, they could use him as a bargaining chip against him. To possibly use Him to reveal the tactical weaknesses of Starfleet. If ONI had access to phaser technology, or even worse photon torpedoes... they could take the UNSC over in a heartbeat.

ONI does not serve the UEG, their only objective is to gain as much power as possible, through the various Spartan programs and every other questionable move they have made. The only reason they really helped the UNSC during the Covenant war was simply because they knew that if the Covenant won, they would be slaughtered. Now that it is peacetime, they have all the power to manipulate the Unified Earth Government to do their bidding.

Suddenly, the ground literally shook him out of his thoughts. Small rocks fell from the ceiling as the ground shook more and more violently. "Earthquake?" Soren asked confused.

"This is impossible; we aren't on a planet with tectonic plates!" Replied the Doctor, who was just confused as he was.

"We need to get out of here!" Fred yelled.

"No Shit, Sherlock!" Soren retorted.

"Let's move!" Mendez barked.

Soren grabbed Doctor Halsey's arm, and pulled her out of the base with all the Spartans and Mendez following. The Spartans ran from the mountain, following the path down, avoiding the boulders that were falling from above. The Spartans managed to escape from the danger zone, and found themselves in a grassy field. Finally managing to compose themselves, the Spartans looked up. Only to find the source of the shaking. A massive portal had formed in the lower atmosphere, about ten kilometers high. It was two kilometers in length and height, and it was green.

"What the hell is that?" asked a Spartan III.

Soren squinted behind his visor, and he finally said "This looks like a smaller version of Gamma Wormhole!"

"Gamma Wormhole?" Halsey asked.

"The Wormhole that connects the Republic's Galaxy and the UNSC's Galaxy, we discovered it in 2323, the year that I was born… according to the old style Republic Calendar. That would be the equivalent to the year 2511" Soren answered.

"Hold on, our Galaxy is in the future in comparison to yours?" A Spartan III marveled.

"This universe was created 188 years earlier to the Republic's, yes" Dave replied.

"Now that we are on this subject **Dave,** how the hell were you able to become a Starfleet Commando in two years' time? It took me over five years to be fully certified and-"

Soren noticed something mid-sentence in the corner of his eye. A Spartan III was just standing there, his body language was that of pure shock. Soren whipped around to see what was wrong, his eyes widened. A Republic energy sword was sticking out of the Spartan's chest. It disappeared and the Spartan fell forward. Only to reveal Daisy-023 standing behind where the Spartan stood. She was still in commando armor, but her visor was cracked along with many of her armored plates. She whipped out a PP-24 out of her holster and aimed at the Spartans.

"GET DOWN!" Soren yelled, reaching for his rifle.

It was too late, she aimed her weapon and discharged it, directly towards Fred, who was still finding cover. The orange beam flew through the air and directly hit Frederic's MJOLNIR armor on the thigh. The weapon was set at level 10. Fred's Shields were immediately taken down.

Time slowed down for Soren, he sprinted towards the beam to block it but Daisy terminated the beam. Soren turned to see that Fred's body language was that of pure shock, very similarly to the Spartan III who just died. His lover's body shortly after, crumpled on the ground like a ragdoll. For the first time since Soren was rescued from that forest, the Ex-Spartan did not know what to do. His heart filled with rage as he turned back to face the traitor, who was undoubtedly having a mental parade in honor of her victory over Soren. He in the blink of an eye aimed his weapon and set it to level 20, not caring about that specific setting's… explosive effects. By this time, Fred had been dragged into cover by his comrades, "Safe" from the hell he was going to rain upon Daisy. He set his rifle to compression mode, and fired. Compression mode does not use beams, instead it uses "energy pulses" that are similar in appearance to traditional plasma weapons. They are used to deal a great amount of punishment very quickly.

He fired one energy pulse at level 20, creating an explosion similar to the M41 Rocket Launcher. Soren was engulfed by the explosion, and his shields took a major hit, dropping to 25%. Daisy however was doing far worse with her damaged armor, shields being completely knocked out, but she was unharmed. Though, her armor's breastplate literally fell off. Soren snarled at the fact she was still standing, and charged. Daisy attempted to dodge Soren's fury of punches and kicks, but fell short when Soren's armored fist connected with her Visor with so much force, it shattered. Soren's punch also knocked out her combat armor's primary onboard computer, slowing her reflexes and knocking out her shields for good. Taking advantage of this weakness, Soren got behind her and ripped her armor's backplate off, exposing the exo-skeleton's micro-fusion reactor and backup computer. Before she could react, he ripped the reactor out, frying the backup computer in the process. She fell on her knees, armor completely trashed, essentially becoming a makeshift prison cell.

Soren store down at his defeated opponent. Part of him pitied her, he recognized a part of himself in her. However, she not only betrayed her country but also betrayed her friends in the worst way possible. He turned his head to where the Spartans took cover. They were there, standing and staring at him in their usual expressions. With one final look at Daisy, he sprinted over to their position to see Fred. His heart raced, he did not even know if he was still alive. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw David alongside Doctor Halsey, both hovering over Frederic. He rushed beside David kneeling, took his helmet off and asked in an uncharacteristically concerned tone "How is he?"

"Not well, he's in neural shock. I don't know how long I can keep him with us, I only have level II medical certification" Dave grimaced.

"Can you tell me more about how your weapons affect the body?" Halsey said with haste.

"Unshielded, phaser wounds physically are mostly superficial, what is not however is the massive transphasic pulse it sends through its victim's nervous system. This normally fries the nervous system instantly. Which is an instant death. However, he was shielded, and Soren blocked most of the beam, it was weakened to the point where it only overloaded his central nervous system… which is bad enough. He will probably die soon if I don't get a proper medical kit" Dave said solemnly.

Halsey was deeply disturbed by this… Another one of her Spartans. Not MIA. Dead. She never did think of any of her Spartans as "Missing in action" as ONI wanted everyone to. And he was to join the ranks of fallen Spartans.

Snapping herself out of her thoughts, she then turned around to see the traitor. The traitor was struggling to move the suit manually, and failing miserably. She was obviously injured. Soren also turned his head to see her. The Spartans were starting to crowd around Fred when Soren asked "Well! Who wants to meet our assailant?"

Soren stood up and walked over to the Treasonous Commando, rage boiling he ripped her helmet off and flung it over a kilometer away, revealing her traitorous face. Blood was oozing from the corner of her mouth and dripping from the bottom of her neck. He pulled Daisy up by her shoulders to face the Spartans, Doctor Halsey and Mendez.

The Doctor looked up, turning her head away from Fred. The face that she saw was one she had not seen for a long time. "Daisy?" The Doctor asked, with a hint of guilt lacing her tone.

"Yes Doctor, it is me. Daisy-023, one of **your** Spartans" Daisy replied in a mocking tone, followed by a low chuckle.

Soren kicked her feet out to the ground and yelled "Don't you fucking **DARE** say you are a Spartan, or a Commando for that matter. You slaughtered over 1000 innocent people in cold blood. You **murdered** Jai! You are traitor and a DISGRACE to both the Spartan II and Starfleet Commando II programs, and you will be **dealt with as such.** "

"Why do you defend them? Why do you defend her after all they have done to you? The UNSC is responsible for all your setbacks in **your** life!" Daisy retorted.

"Because **I** have a sense of honor, I do not kill innocents because they fly under the same banner as those who have hurt me. I do not attempt to murder someone because they wronged me, and I most certainly will never betray my fellow Spartans. I am all for the destruction of ONI, believe me that. But what you have done in these two days is wrong, and will not get anyone anywhere."

The Spartans arrived shortly after his speech. The Spartan IIs were in front. At that moment it seemed that all animosity towards Soren from the Spartan IIs and IIIs had completely vanished. Redirected towards Daisy in excess, far greater excess. The amount of emotion the Spartans and company showed that day was unprecedented. The look on their faces, were that of anger, rage and disappointment all wrapped up into a little ball. It would be enough to make even the most emotionally detached shudder in fear and embarrassment.

"Soren, look!" Dave said, pointing at the wormhole.

Soren's looked up, nothing appeared to be visually different but definitely different beyond the spectrum the eye can see. The portal was fluctuating, like something was about to come through. Suddenly, there was a flash and a ship emerged from the portal. It was a Galaxy Class; Soren could tell simply from its shape. He magnified a section of the hull where he knew a hull identifier tag would be. It read RSS _Endurance_ RSRN-1702-D.

"What is that?" Kelly asked.

"Our ticket out of here" Soren replied with a smirk.


	8. The Return

**Chapter 8 - The Return**

Soren's HUD confirmed the _Endurance_ 's presence. The ship seemed undamaged and functioning normally. He walked briskly away from the rest of the group and opened a channel.

"This is Lieutenant Soren Green, RSX-771 contacting the _Endurance_. Please respond" Soren hailed.

"Soren?" A voice that clearly belonged to Captain Braxton said cautiously.

"Yes Sir, I have critically wounded down here, and by order of Starfleet Command I have apprehended a rogue Starfleet Commando. I have made contact with members of the United Nations Space Command, most notably a group of Spartans" Soren replied.

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds, most likely the Captain discussing the situation with his crew. He then unmuted his microphone and said "We will beam you all aboard, please tag the rogue Commando to be beamed into the brig."

"Yes Sir" Soren said, cutting the transmission.

Soren walked over back to the group and said "The Captain of the Starship is going to allow you all to come aboard his ship. I have worked with this man before; he is a good officer. Either you come with us or stay here"

"Will we be going back to the UNSC?" Asked Mendez.

"That's your choice, you can stay with the Republic as I have, or go back to the UNSC. The choice is yours. Though I can't say for sure, Republic Intelligence may want to discuss a few things before you leave. Most likely to do with disclosure of our operations, we already have detailed files on the UNSC" Soren replied wearily.

That did not improve the confidence level the Spartans had regarding the Republic. However, from their perspective that ship is their only way out for a long time, and they were not going to pass it up.

"We will accept the Captain's offer" Halsey confirmed.

Soren gave the group a curt nod. He walked over to Daisy and placed a locator beacon on her back and opened a channel to the _Endurance_.

"She has been tagged. One to beam the brig" Soren said over the comm.

"Stand by" The transporter chief replied.

After a few seconds, she began to dematerialize. The Spartans watched in awe as she disappeared in a flurry of blue light.

"What happened to her?" Asked Halsey.

"The Republic has teleportation technology; Daisy has been safely transported to the _Endurance_ 's brig" Soren replied.

The Doctor nodded wearily and Soren ran over to Frederic, who was propped up against a tree. David was scanning him with a tricorder, and Soren asked "Is he okay for transport?"

"He needs to be stabilized first, I still don't have the proper medical equipment or training needed for this, and I can't do shit until this armor is removed" A frustrated Dave said.

"Soren to _Endurance_ , I need a medical team down here ASAP" Soren said with anxiety in his voice.

Soren saw someone approach from the distance. He turned to see who it was. It was none other than Doctor Halsey. "I believe I can help you with at least one part of your dilemma" She said in her usual calm, calculating tone.

Soren nodded and allowed the Doctor to evaluate the fallen Spartan's armor. The number of grunts and curses coming out of the Doctor's mouth was not a good sign in Soren's mind, but nonetheless he had faith in her work, and her ability to get things done. He had never doubted that part of her character. While she can be insensitive at times, she is very good at what she does.

A few moments later, six shimmering blue lights appeared nearby, a medical team taking the lights' place moments later. They hurried over and started waving their various medical instruments over him. Doctor Halsey seemed to keep her cool through the whole thing. "We need to get him out of the armor" one of the medics said.

"Soren, do you have some sort of cutting beam?" Doctor Halsey asked.

"Yes, they're integrated into my armor's plasma sword emitters" Soren replied.

"Make two incisions here, and here. Make sure you do not cut so deep that you rupture the liquid metal layer" The Doctor ordered, pointing at various points on Fred's armor.

"Got it" Soren confirmed, immediately getting to work.

Soren's cutting beam sliced through Fred's unshielded armor with ease. Soren's HUD would warn him when he was getting close to the liquid metal layer. He worked with unmatched precision and skill, cutting every last plate off.

Soon after, Frederic's MJOLNIR armor's plating just seemed to fall off his body. Halsey scurried to Fred's right side, peeling off his skinsuit, revealing the man underneath the machine. The medics from the _Endurance_ rushed to his side, administering hypospray after hypospray. They waved their tricorders and medical instruments over him: murmuring amongst themselves. The Chief Medical officer of the _Endurance_ put down her tricorder and faced Doctor Halsey while the others continued to work on Fred.

"I am Senior Lieutenant Amelia Marcus, Chief Medical Officer of the RSS _Endurance_. Catherine Halsey I presume?"

"Correct. Pleasure to meet you" Doctor Halsey replied.

"Let's get to business, the patient has suffered what should have been a lethal phaser wound. But, it would seem that this armor of his shielded him from the majority of the blast. Even so, it would appear that-" the CMO was interrupted.

A sharp gasp was heard.

Everyone turned in shock as Frederic-104, who was on death's door moments prior gazed back at them.

"Whaaaa-what happened?" Frederic slurred, obviously dazed.

The Republic medical staff just looked at each other confoundedly. It took over a minute before someone finally answered him.

"You have suffered a potentially fatal phaser wound. Please lie down" A Vulcan medic commanded.

Fred did as he was told. The medics surrounded him waving their medical instruments his body. One of the medics crisply nodded to the CMO who then tapped her combadge.

"Lieutenant Marcus to _Endurance_ : one tagged to beam directly to sickbay"

Without even a reply, blue light surrounded Frederic's body as he dematerialized. The Spartans watched in awe as he disappeared before their eyes. "He's going to be okay, right?" Kelly asked in a slightly worried tone.

Marcus pivoted slightly facing her. "Petty Officer, I have never in my life seen someone recover from a lethal phaser wound as fast as that. Most people are lucky not to be paralyzed from the shoulders-down, let alone be inconvenienced by endless recovery"

Kelly nodded slightly as Amelia moved to speak with Soren.

"Unless there's any reservations, prepare for transport" Amelia announced.


	9. Revelations

**Chapter 9 – Revelations**

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

 **Transporter Room Three**

The _Endurance was_ abuzz. The Captain had ordered all departments to collaborate in order to draft a course of action to get the ship out of the Dyson Sphere. Engineering was understandably under the most pressure during these trying times. Despite this, the Endurance's transporter and medical subdivisions were fully staffed and were ready to assist.

The transporter pad was packed full, transporting all of the Spartans which remained on the surface at once. Fred however, got a VIP ticket straight to sickbay as the transporter chief redirected him there due to his injuries. In transporter room three, all eight spots on the transporter pad glowed as the Spartans were transported. A mere second after they all successfully rematerialized, a man walked through the transporter room's doors. His face was slightly wrinkled with silver hair and his eyes were chocolate brown.

"I am Commander Theodore Braxton, Captain of the Republic Starship _Endurance;_ welcome aboard" the man spoke.

The Spartans who stood before him nodded. Obscured by their massive forms however obscured the only non-spartan without MJOLNIR armor: Doctor Halsey. She budged her way around Kelly and Linda and shook the Captain's hand. "Doctor Halsey, pleased to meet you Captain" the Doctor introduced.

"Likewise. We should-" the Captain was interrupted by his combadge.

 ** _"Doctor Marcus to Commander Braxton"_** a voice said.

"Go ahead" Braxton replied, tapping the badge.

 ** _"Captain, is Doctor Halsey aboard?"_** Doctor Marcus asked.

"Yes... why?" the Captain inquired.

 **"I have a few questions regarding Frederic-104's biology before I discharge him from sickbay"** Marcus replied with a hint of awe in her voice.

"What? I thought he had suffered a potentially fatal phaser wound" the Captain confusedly said.

 ** _"He did"_** the Doctor replied in awe.

"But how? Those wounds take weeks to heal, if not months or years!" Braxton protested.

 ** _"That's why I need Halsey here. I have never seen anything like this before... I am barely reading any residual phaser energy in his system and somehow various tissue regenerators work far more efficiently on him than a regular human"_** Marcus spoke incredulously.

"Understood, we're on our way. Braxton out" the Captain said, tapping his combadge again to close the connection.

Before Halsey could speak, the Captain tapped his combadge again and said "Braxton to Senior Lieutenant Lore"

 ** _"Lore here, Sir"_**

"Report immediately to transporter rooms Two and Three. Escort them to the observation lounge.

 ** _"Aye, Sir"_** Lore replied, closing the channel.

Commander Braxton turned to face the Spartans. "Remain here" he spoke.

"With all due respect, I'm coming with you" Kelly said with a hint of urgency.

"I second that" Linda added.

The Captain rolled his eyes and replied "Very well. If you will follow me"

The Captain, Doctor Halsey and both members of Blue Team exited the transporter room... leaving the Spartan-IIIs and Franklin Mendez alone with the transporter chiefs. As they strode through the corridors of the ship, Kelly noted just how different this ship was in design to a UNSC ship. The floors were carpeted outside of engineering sections, darkened computer terminals wrapped around the walls. Most of the crew were in uniforms which would if they were back in the UNSC would be considered "officer uniforms". Finally, they reached the turbolift that would take them directly to sickbay.

The turbolift doors whooshed open. "After you" the Captain spoke, gesturing his guests to enter.

"Thank you" Doctor Halsey replied while entering the turbolift, with Kelly and Linda following soon afterward.

The Captain then finally entered and ordered the computer to take them to sickbay. For a Spartan, the first time in a turbolift can be jarring as they are hyper aware of the world around them. The lift started moving downwards... then to the left... and back upwards. Suddenly the lift started to slow down and the lift's doors opened once again.

Braxton exited first and stood beside double doors which had a glowing red crosses on both doors. Halsey, Kelly and Linda soon exited the turbolift. "This way" The Captain said.

The doors whooshed open automatically as they approached revealing the CMO's office and beside that sickbay. Kelly and Linda entered first, moving out of the way for the officers and doctors to get to their work so that they may meet with their comrade later. A few moments later, the Captain and Doctor Halsey entered the room. The CMO was busy working on another patient who seemed to have broken her leg on the holodeck. Halsey turned to see Fred, sitting on one of the biobeds, seemingly fine.

A second later, Marcus saw them and handed the patient off to one of her nurses and walked over to where the Captain and Halsey stood.

"Doctor, if you don't mind I have a few questions on the SPARTAN-II program's biology" Marcus repeated.

"Most of which is classified, what I can tell you is that candidates were selected had exceptional regenerative properties" Doctor Halsey confirmed, obviously holding most of the details.

"Yes… Most intriguing" The CMO muttered.

Marcus then turned to the Captain.

"Could I have a word with you Captain?" Amelia Marcus asked the Captain.

"Of course" the Captain replied, gesturing her to join him in the Medical office.

Commander Braxton and Lieutenant Marcus entered the CMO's office and locked / soundproofed the door. Halsey and her company meandered over to Fred's side.

"How are you?" Doctor Halsey asked.

"Well, Ma'am" the Spartan replied.

"I can see that" Halsey said, grabbing a PADD beside Frederic's biobed. The PADD contained observations of Fred's recovery. A word kept repeating over and over again in his file… 'unprecedented'.

Doctor Halsey smiled, it felt good to know that her work was being admired. She cocked her head to look at Fred's face. Something was different about him… she couldn't put her finger on it. A twinkle in his eye perhaps, she never specified what it was.

A moment later, sickbay's doors whooshed open. A figure walked through the doors. He wore silver combat armor that's finish was so polished that it seemed to reflect everything around it like a mirror. The figure's visor glowed a bright teal. The Spartans' eyes wandered to the breastplate which on the left had a dark patch for rank insignia. Two silver pips. A number however was emblazoned on the right.

066.

The figure took off his helmet to reveal the former Spartan underneath. "Miss me?" he smiled.

"No" the Spartans replied instantly.

Soren's face contorted with mock offense and peered beyond them to make eye contact with Fred. "Sorry, I had to stop off at the armory to get my armor replaced. It was damaged and there was a new model available so they had to fit that..."

"It's fine, Soren" Fred interrupted.

Soren nodded. His eyes involuntarily scanned Fred from head to toe. Soren noticed how his massive muscles nearly tore through his shirt and how they bulged and relaxed with every move Fred made. He was desperately trying to suppress the urge to run over and bear hug the now healed Spartan. _That will have to wait until later_ Soren thought smugly.

Halsey walked in front of him. She looked at the numbers on his chest and said "Seems you had your old service number printed on your armor… why?" Doctor Halsey asked.

"I don't know. Seemed like the right thing to do" Soren shrugged

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

 **CMO's Office**

Doctor Amelia Marcus sat in her chair behind her office desk, while Commander Braxton stood.

"Captain, He may appear to have fully recovered in an inhuman amount of time but there can be residual side effects… neurodegeneration, Brian's disease… cancer!"

"What do you propose?" The Captain asked.

"There are rumors… that Republic intelligence has infiltrated and copied the entire ONI database multiple times. Which would include all of the files on the SPARTAN-II program, correct?"

"I understand your concerns Doctor. Even if I was authorized to give you access, those files don't exist in the Endurance's computer. The only way to get them is to access the central mainframe on Mars… and if you haven't noticed we aren't exactly within communications range at the moment" the Captain sighed.

Amelia huffed. "Well, I guess the best thing I can do for now is to discharge him under observation… no point in keeping him here to waste away"

"Agreed"

Both officers then walked out of the office and into the main sickbay.

"Okay 104. You have been discharged under observation, which essentially means you will have to come in for check-ups every few days for a while. I would recommend not straining yourself too much for the next few days. I can't force you however, due to the fact that according to my scans you are pretty much fully recovered... but there could be additional side effects, particularly involving your augmentations. Since however your good Doctor won't give us any insight regarding the nature of the procedure used to augment you, we will just have to go on the emergence of symptoms if there is any reaction. I implore you to immediately come back here if you feel anything is out of the ordinary" Amelia said sternly.

Fred nodded and got off his biobed, remaining perfectly balanced. A close observer could spot the look of relief on the Spartans' faces when he got up as Halsey did. "I'm fine" Fred assured.

 ** _"Lore to Braxton"_** Lore said over the comm.

The Captain tapped his combadge. "Braxton here" he said.

 ** _"Sir, I have gathered the UNSC personnel in the primary observation lounge. We await your arrival"_** Lore reminded.

"Acknowledged, we will be there shortly. Braxton out"

The Captain then turned to the Spartans who were gathered around Fred. "Shall we?" The Captain asked.

The UNSC personnel nodded and followed the Captain out of sickbay.

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

 **Observation Lounge**

The observation lounge was... lighter than usual. The sunlight from the Dyson Sphere's sun streamed through the windows on the outer hull. It wasn't often that the lights in the observation lounge were turned off partially, let alone completely. The windows were polarized to the sun, allowing the occupants to directly observe it. The Spartans sat around the long table in the middle of the lounge, Chief Mendez sat beside Doctor Halsey on the right while the Captain sat at the head of the table with Soren and Lore standing behind him.

"If you haven't already heard, I am Commander Theodore Braxton, Captain of this ship. As you are already aware, we are trapped in a Dyson Sphere with no definitive way out. Doctor Halsey, do you know of a way out?"

"The only way out is to go through the Hurogok" Halsey sighed.

"Huragok?" Braxton asked, dumbfounded.

"Also known as Engineers, they were created by the Forerunners to maintain their equipment and installations. They are technical geniuses. However, when we attempted to get them to return this sphere to normal space they rejected because they saw a large UNSC presence a threat to their installation" Halsey informed.

The Captain contemplated this new information. _Perhaps we could negotiate with them better than they could_ Braxton thought.

"Sir I have a question" Kelly asked. "Why do you refer to yourself as a Commander, yet have four rank pips?"

"Ah, you see 087... the rank 'commander' in a traditional naval rank structure is actually referred to in Republic Starfleet as Sub-Commander and the rank 'captain' is referred to as Commander due to Starfleet's lack of separate divisions. Such as the Army, Navy, etc."

Kelly nodded slightly in acknowledgement.

"Sir… we may have a problem" Lore started, glancing at the Spartans.

"What is that?" Braxton replied.

"Sir, the _Endurance_ has only two available VIP quarters and only one standard guest quarters. The others were being renovated before we were ordered to depart from Mars Spacedock… they were never completed. We could finish them now Sir, it would only take a few crew members a few hours" Informed Lore.

The Captain facepalmed, muttering nearly unheard curses. The Captain then looked at the UNSC guests with a weary look.

"Doctor Halsey and Chief Mendez will be assigned to VIP Quarters. As for the rest of you; are you interested on doing some indoor camping?" Braxton smirked.

The Spartans looked at each other quizzically, as if they were trying to ascertain where Captain was going with this.

The Captain cocked his head to face Soren. "Lieutenant, have you and Spartans clear out cargohold A-4 and assist them in erecting a modular shelter"

"Aye, Sir" Soren said, getting out of his chair and headed for the door. He suddenly stopped and turned around, only to see that the Spartans had not budged.

"If you wish to sleep in the corridors of the ship that is fine, I am sure the Captain could find somewhere for me to sleep" Soren grinned behind his helmet.

Frederic looked to Doctor Halsey, who then nodded. He then looked at Soren, then gestured for the Spartans to follow him to the cargo bay.

 **USS** ** _Enterprise_** **NCC-1701-D**

 **Bridge**

The _Enterprise_ was definitely anything but abuzz. Officers sat in their chairs with nothing to do, staring into empty space... except for one.

"Captain?" Data asked.

"Yes, Mr. Data?" Picard answered.

"I have compiled the report that you requested sir" Data replied.

"Good... all senior staff report to the Observation Lounge" Picard ordered.

 **Observation Lounge**

"Mr. Data, please give us your report" Picard asked in a firm but not harsh tone.

The senior staff were sitting at the _Enterprise's_ conference table. The air was thick with anticipation and to an extent… fear. No one knew what was going to happen

"Certainly. Captain Picard requested that I create a report on the political atmosphere of this galaxy, if only to allow us to be more effective in handling parties other than the Republic" Data informed.

"Go ahead" Riker commanded.

Data pressed a few buttons on a PADD. Suddenly, a massive 3D map appeared of the Republic's galaxy with known territories highlighted in different colors.

"As you can see, at first glance this seems very similar to our galaxy. However, the Republic's history while similar to ours differs in key ways" Data started.

"Where is the Romulan Demilitarized zone?" Worf asked confusedly, pointing at the border between Republic and Romulan space.

"Similarly to our Galaxy during the Romulan War, the Republic had heavy casualties. However, nearing what would be the war's end, Supreme Commander Flynn ordered the Clone Army into 100% production. These troops never did make it into battle during the Romulan War, leading to a large excess of soldiers in Starfleet. To compensate for this, the Republic Council ordered that Starfleet be made 350% larger than its pre-war state in terms of Starships and other facilities. This led to starship designs such as the Venator Class which was over a kilometer long and was designed as a warship."

"This seemingly temporary overcompensation led to a key difference between the Republic and the Federation. The Klingons. While the Federation was outgunned by the Klingons in the four years' war... the Republic was not"

"They fought back..." Riker murmured.

"Yes, Sir. In the Supreme Commander's words 'You Klingons want a fight eh? You want a war? Fine then, but fair warning. It will not be glorious'" Data continued.

"What happened?" Worf asked, suddenly alert.

"A month into the war, the Romulan Tal-Shiar delivered a report to the Romulan senate. It predicted that the Republic would win the war against the Klingon Empire... but at great cost. The report indicated that while the Romulan Star Empire could annex the Republic after the Klingon War ended, it would cost them dearly in ships and resources. Not to mention that they would lose a lot of soldiers. There was an alternative however."

"What was that?" Picard asked.

"At the time, the entire Klingon fleet was diverted by order of the Chancellor was deployed along the Republic front. The Romulans deemed it to be more profitable to join the war against the Klingon Empire"

The officers in the room described Worf's scowl after he heard that as simply… surreal. It looked like he wanted to kill somebody. To think that this grand, glorious Republic would ally with the ** _Romulans!_** The Klingon's sworn enemy!

"What happened next?" Riker asked.

"The Romulan Senate voted to join the Republic's War against the Klingons, if only to scoop up some of their territory, which they did. This course of action proved to give the Romulans more than what they bargained for" Data explained. "In the darkest days of the war, Republic soldiers fought side by side with Romulan forces. They would often form Friendships out of camaraderie and in some cases… romance"

At this point, Worf seemed to have enough. He was an inch away from smashing the conference table and break something or someone. The Federation crew, while not violently furious about the relationship that the Republic has formed, they were… surprised. The only Romulans that they have ever encountered were dishonorable, backstabbing, crooks. Picard himself was open to the idea of having an actual dialogue with the Romulans. In fact, Picard was very liberal in regards to who he deals with, except for maybe the Borg, who had assimilated him just a few months earlier.

"During the final days of the Former Klingon Empire, the battle of Qo'noS was fought. Disrupter bolts and Phaser beams flew through the air as the allies encroached upon the First City of the Klingon Empire. Photon torpedoes pummeled buildings and blew tanks to pieces. Eventually though, the majority of High Council unconditionally surrendered to the Romulans after they lost over 85% of their forces, which was 35% of the population of Qo'noS. Senior Commander Kalashnikov, the Republic overseer of the invasion of Qo'noS was quoted saying 'No matter what background a Klingon has, they are share one thing in common… they will all fight to the end. No matter the odds.'"

There was so much information to take in, it gave many in the room headaches. The Captain rubbed his forehead while Commander Riker rubbed his eyes. Worf on the other hand seemed to calming down thinking that the majority of Klingons went down in a Klingon sense of honor. It wasn't too hard to believe that in some parallel universe that the Federation wouldn't have done the same thing. In fact, the Federation did have the same plans, but those were scrapped simply because they didn't have nearly enough ships to sustain a prolonged campaign: something the Republic had.

"Despite the fact that many surrendered to the allies, many Klingon Houses notably Martok and Mogh chose to continue fighting. The forces that refused to surrender were eventually driven off the planet. Only to reestablish themselves on other Klingon controlled planets beyond the area already captured" Data continued. "With losses greater than initially calculated, the Republic Council called off the attack at the suggestion of the Supreme Commander after Qo'noS, as the former Klingon Empire was crippled and powerless beyond defending their own space. After a year of occupation, the areas captured by the Republic and Romulan Star Empire were released to the new government known as the 'Federal Republic of Qo'noS', or simply the FRQ, which was and still is friendly with both the Republic and Star Empire. It has been nicknamed the 'West Klingon Republic'. The forces that didn't surrender and held out on other worlds declared themselves to be the true Klingon Empire, settling on a new capital planet known as 'New Qo'noS'. This entity is commonly referred to as the 'Eastern Klingon Empire'."

Somehow, the Captain knew this day was only going to get weirder.


	10. Riddles

**Chapter 10 – Riddles**

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

 **Deck 4, Cargohold A-1**

The cargohold doors opened and Soren marched right through them. He was deep in thought on how he was going to divide the workload. _Should I act as the foreman? Should I be an asshole commander or a 'laid back' commander? Should I even act as a commander at all?_

 _Nonsense, being the asshole commander is fucking hilarious_ Soren mused.

The rest of the Spartans soon walked into the room. It didn't take a warp scientist to determine what would happen next. Soren took a PADD from a replicator, connected to the _Endurance's_ wireless network and pulled up the plans for a modular shelter. He then put the PADD behind his back with his other hand.

"I am Lieutenant Soren Green, apparently your Senior Drill instructor! From now on you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and last words out of filthy sewer-"

Soren couldn't complete his statement as he was sure that if he continued his grin would shine right through his helmet. The Spartans looked at him like he was insane, but he ignored that and moved on.

"Okay… new idea" Soren said, putting his hands in front of his torso with the PADD. "These are some of the potential configurations that we could make this thing. Since this is a modular shelter, each 'room' is replicated separately. There can be an unlimited amount of rooms, but we only have a limited amount of space to work with"

The fully armored Spartans (except for Fred) all slowly nodded. A frown appeared behind Soren's helmet due to the lack of enthusiasm. Suddenly, Soren moved to one of the corners of the cargohold. There was a large pad which was nearly quadruple the size of a transporter.

"Computer" Soren ordered, with the Computer responding with a beep. "Begin modular shelter construction program."

 ** _"_** ** _Select a building type"_**

"Bunkhouse with twelve extra-large beds measuring at least 2.4 meters long. Ensure the bunkbed's structural support beams are made of Tritanium to support upwards of 155.2 kilograms" Soren ordered.

 ** _"_** ** _Request acknowledged, replicating now"_** The Computer droned.

The Spartans watched in awe as shimmering, translucent blue floor phased into existence over the pad. Then, shimmering blue walls appeared, then finally a roof.

 ** _"_** ** _Replication complete, final mass: 30,528 kilograms. Recommend using at least a Class XVI gravity lift for transport"_** The Computer recommended.

"Uhm, no. I am my own forklift" Soren boasted as he moved to the other side of the structure to push it.

However, it appears that he let the fact that he was the strongest SPARTAN-II in terms of upper body strength go to his head. He finally after three tries pushing it peered his head around to where the other Spartans were watching him fail. "A little help please?" He asked.

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

 **Bridge**

After what seemed to be a grueling conference, the _Endurance's_ Captain entered the bridge alongside the rest of the senior staff, Chief Mendez and Doctor Halsey. The viewscreen was displaying the star in which the Dyson Sphere they were in revolved around. Apparently the temporary bridge crew was observing it to see if the Forerunners hid some kind of portal out of the sphere. The officers who occupied positions temporarily got up and made way for their more experienced counterparts.

"Doctor, I will assemble an away team to confront and open a dialogue with these 'engineers' to allow us passage outside this Dyson Sphere. Do you wish to come?" Commander Braxton asked.

The Doctor positioned herself in the exact opposite direction to where the Captain was standing and said "No, I don't think I could help. It may anger them to see me again"

"Why?" The Captain responded.

"Let's just say one of us was a bit trigger happy when we were meeting them… ended up killing one of them" she replied, glaring daggers at Chief Mendez for a split-second.

"I see" Braxton lowly said. "Could you provide us with coordinates to where you last heard of them?"

Braxton tapped his combadge and said "Mr. Lore and Sub-Lieutenant Zanders, report to Transporter Room One"

 ** _"_** ** _Yes, Sir. I am currently getting new combat armor fitted right now, according to the technician I will be out of here in less than five minutes"_** Dave said.

"Make it quick, Braxton out"

Nodding to his acting Executive Officer Lore, he moved to the turbolift alongside him and ordered the lift to go to the Transporter Room. The doors closed and they moved downwards. "Mr. Lore, what do we know about these 'engineers'".

"Very little sir. RSI2 limits information they obtain on a 'need to know' basis. What I was able to get was that they are Forerunner in origin and are possibly one of their creations. They were noted to not have much personality beyond their work and directives. There is no information in our computer on their specific abilities and appearance, sir." Lore said. "I hypothesize that they are not humanoid"

"Hm, well I guess this will be a first for everyone" Braxton mused aloud as the lift came to its destination. "If you do well on this next mission, I will see to it that you receive a promotion to Sub-Commander"

"Thank you, Sir" Lore said.

The turbolift doors opened, and its occupants exited. Braxton did not like to go into situations where there was almost no intelligence. _Burden of exploration_ he supposed.

The Transporter Room was right across the hall from the turbolift, which Lore and Captain Braxton entered promptly. The transporter chief stared at them entering. He had a questioning look on his face when the Captain and the Android just stood beside the transporter pad. Braxton noticed this after a short bit and quickly said "We're waiting for someone else".

"Got it, Sir" The transporter operator smiled.

A few moments later, David-B312 entered the transporter room. His new armored torso plating was maroon, while above his shoulders and below his waist were jet black, both were divided using the signature triangle pattern both used by Federation and Republic Starfleet.

"New color pattern, Sub-Lieutenant?" Braxton asked.

"Yes, Sir. Starfleet Command is rolling out a new uniform and color pattern which will become mandatory in a year's time from now" David informed.

The Captain nodded slightly in acknowledgement. Suddenly, an idea popped into his mind.

"David, during your time in the UNSC, did you ever encounter a species known as the 'Huragok'?" Braxton asked.

"Yes Sir, they are a non-humanoid squid-like race created by the Forerunners to maintain their equipment. They were later enslaved by the Covenant as their Engineers; generally, they are non-hostile and care little about factions and war" David said.

"Good, I assume you briefed yourself on the mission?" Braxton asked.

"Yes, Sir"

"Grand" The Captain said.

The officers then walked onto the transporter pad. Commander Braxton fixed his uniform to remove any creases while Lore did the same.

"Energize" The Captain finally said.

Without a word, the transporter chief nodded and pressed a few buttons on the control panel in front of him. After a few seconds he finally slided the matter-energy control switch forwards. Suddenly, the people who were standing on the transporter pad started glowing blue then vanished. The transporter chief smiled knowing that his shift would end in a few minutes, and that he could get back to a certain Sub-Lieutenant which his last meeting with was disrupted by an assholish Commando.

 **Shield World 006**

 **Primary Control Room**

For a Shield World as large and complex as 006, you would think that the control would match in both; it did not. The room was still large for a control room; the walls were made of dark Grey forerunner metal along with the floors being made of a similar material. Twenty Huragok were working on the computer systems when a buzzing sound was heard. Immediately, the majority of Huragok turned to face the noise. "What is happening?" a voice called from above.

One of the Huragok looked up to see its monitor floating down from above. It had a purple eye similar to 343 guilty spark, though its voice was deeper than that famous monitor. The monitor turned to the source of the notice and scanned the area. "Localized spacial fluctuation detected, most likely a transporter beam" the monitor said to himself.

Suddenly, three blue forms appeared glowing at the center of the room. The monitor watched as they materialized right in front of him. Suddenly, they fully materialized and stood in the center of the room.

"Greetings! I am 3402 Righteous Bias, monitor of this installation. I am quite surprised that you reclaimers have developed such advanced technology. The transporter technology that you used to get here was state-of-the-art in the Ecumene before the halo rings were fired. I am curious though where exactly you came from. Last I heard, humanity had only barely developed class II combat skins... you seem to be wearing at least a class VI" The monitor stated.

"I am Commander Theodore Braxton, of the Starship _Endurance_ representing the United Republic of Planets. We mean no harm. We were dragged into this sphere against our will. I humbly request that you return my ship to normal space"

The monitor seemed to be confused. He turned to look at the huragok who seemed to share his confusion. "I am sorry Reclaimer, but, I have no record of summoning a starship from outside the sphere" said the monitor. Righteous Bias then looked at the one of the huragok in confusion. "Did one of you do it?" he asked.

"I am glad you asked" one of the Huragok miraculously spoke.

Both David and the Monitor moved backwards in shock. Huragok can't verbally speak in the same way that humans among other races can. They could only produce whistles and chirps that were understood by other Huragok.

"How are you speaking, repair unit?" The Monitor asked in shock.

The Huragok floated to the Monitor's level and said "Great question! Two home runs for the light-bulb!"

"I DEMAND AN ANSWER!" the Monitor yelled, eye turning red.

Suddenly, the Huragok disappeared with brilliant flash of light, only to be replaced by what appeared to be a human on the ground. Braxton however recognized what appeared to be a human. He was wearing a Federation Starfleet uniform with four gold rank pips, apparently indicating he was a captain. Braxton knew better though, as he has encountered this being before...

"Q!" Braxton barked, fury enveloping his face.

"Ah, Commandersaurus Braxton! How are you my grumpy Captain!"

Theodore's face turned red. That being had been one of the greatest nuisances he had ever encountered.

"I demand you identify yourself immediately, or I will have to destroy you!" the monitor cried.

Q turned to face the monitor who was floating above him. "I am called... we are called many things across the multiverse. We are called Q in what the Republic calls 'Universe Alpha and Beta'. In this universe we are known as the Precursors"

The monitor floated backwards in fear and shock "How... The forerunners eradicated your kind a billion years ago! The Flood is all that remains of..."

"For the record, the Flood was a mere joke that a fellow Q came up with to punish the Forerunners. I never thought it would go as far as it did. But really? How could you possibly think that we could be eliminated by a race who had barely gained control of a single galaxy, let alone an entire universe" Q nonchalantly said. "Still, it amused me to no end seeing those insects getting what they deserved for being such interstellar assholes"

The monitor seemed to be offended, even in death the forerunners ego lives on in the monitors which care forerunners. "I still do not understand how you got here, precursor" Righteous sputtered.

Q suddenly gave him a hard, intense gaze. "You don't get it? Do you? The forerunners never destroyed us... we merely evolved to a higher plain of existence. We made it appear that we were eradicated so that beings across the universe wouldn't start looking for us and consequentially be able to challenge us on our own turf" Q spoke slowly. "We have evolved past the confines of this... three-dimensional universe. We can go anywhere and do anything; Parallel universes? No problem! Create a parasite just as, if not more adaptable and cunning than even the Borg? No problem!"

Q turned to Theodore and his company. His gaze wondered from the Captain to Lore and finally resting on David. His frown from earlier dipped a bit lower. "And of course, the forerunners in their infinite wisdom decided to make you apes their heirs. 'the reclaimers'" Q chuckled. "It doesn't surprise me in the least that such a pitiful race would chose an even more pitiful successor"

"According to the Domain, you chose the humans to inherit the mantle, which the forerunners took upon themselves"

Q glared at him with daggers. _How could the Domain betray me and ruin my fun!_ Q mentally lamented.

Q sighed, and had a defeated look on his face. He turned to the humans in his presence and said "Return to your ship, I'm sure the good Monitor will return this sphere to normal space and you will be free"

"Before I go, I have one more question for you Q" Braxton droned.

"And what would that be?" Q replied irritably.

"Did you have a hand in the Spartans being stranded here?" Braxton asked.

What used to be a bitter frown turned into a sly smirk. Q straightened his posture and replied "Of course Commander"

"Why" the Commander asked lowly.

"Commander, in order for this to work, some pieces have to be forcibly... moved. The board is almost completely setup; the pieces are almost all in place. Soon, it will time to play"

"What is 'this'? What the hell are we playing!" Braxton asked.

Q's grin only grew wider with Theodore's outburst.

"I'll tell you what, before I go I shall give you a hint of what is to come. It will not even if your miniscule mind can comprehend it, give a full picture of the game. You shall find that out on your own" Q pompously stated.

Q snapped his finger and a piece of paper fell to the ground. "See you around, Senior Commander" he said.

Q suddenly vanished with a flash of light. Braxton knelt down to read the note that Q left him. It read:

 ** _A Martyr among giants; forged defending the heart of an Anvil will replace the dust he left behind. He, leaving the Commonwealth of his past had found a new home. He will however, have to make a choice. Smash the Martyr of the 34th soldier, or let it remain. Either way, he will_** ** _never_** ** _be the 34th soldier ever again._**

 _Great, riddles... could this day get any worse?_ Braxton mentally sigh


	11. Answers

**Chapter 11 – Answers**

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

 **Transporter Room 1**

When the away team returned, there seemed to be an air of anticipation surrounding them. No one aboard except for those who went down knew what happened. Theodore Braxton immediately assigned Lore to study the note Q left behind. The Captain knew that when dealing with unknown powers including the Q, one must use every resource given to them in order to survive.

The away team materialized in the transporter room. Lore, note in hand immediately took it to his quarters where he would analyze the note more thoroughly. Braxton went to the bridge and David followed. David couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong with this picture. Everything just seemed so… artificial. Like this whole thing was staged. Yes, he did hear what Q had to say about how he orchestrated for the Spartans to be stranded here and for the _Endurance_ to rescue them. But, somehow it seemed something else… something more was amiss.

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

 **Main Bridge**

The turbolift doors opened, and Captain Braxton and Sub-Lieutenant David Zanders exited. David noted that every single officer he encountered since returning to the ship was wearing their standard issue, white combat armor with their division color for the accent color. _I guess the crew has decided this isn't just another exploration mission_ David chuckled in his head.

Theodore was about to sit in his chair when he noticed something strange. He looked behind him, and saw no one at the Tactical Station. "Lieutenant Jameson!" He barked looking at the officer who previously occupied his chair.

"Yes, Sir!" Jameson replied.

"Why the hell is no one at the Tactical Station. Do you mean to tell me that the position has been vacant for the entire time that we were down on the surface!" The Captain frowned.

The Officer was scared. It was written all over his face. "Sir, the Tactical Officer on our shift was injured on the holodeck moments before you left"

"Why wasn't he replaced?" The Captain retorted.

"Sir… th-there is no replacement aboard" the Officer stuttered.

The Captain's eyes suddenly softened as he grasped the situation. The ship had been on a skeleton crew when they left Mars Spacedock because they simply didn't have time to load everyone back on the ship when the _Enterprise_ left orbit for the wormhole. His eyes wondered over to David who was standing beside him.

 _Oh… SHIT!_ David thought.

"Sub-Lieutenant, you will serve as Tactical Officer until we arrive at Mars Spacedock for resupply" the Captain announced.

"Yes, Sir" He muttered along with a few unintelligible curses while taking his new spot on the bridge.

Suddenly, the turbolift doors opened again. Doctor Halsey and Chief Mendez exited. "Captain, I must say… these quarters you have assigned us are absolutely outstanding" Halsey raved.

"I am glad you approve" The Commander spoke.

A beeping sound was heard from the Tactical Console. David looked down to see what it was. "Sir, we are being hailed, audio only."

"Put it through," The Commander ordered.

 ** _"_** ** _Reclaimers, this is 3402 Righteous Bias. We are going to return you to normal space. An anomaly should appear directly ahead. This should return you to approximately the same location where you were taken… although I cannot be certain. Good luck"_** The Monitor said, closing the channel just after he finished talking.

Suddenly, a massive orange portal appeared out of nowhere in front of the ship. Unlike last time, the _Endurance_ was not being dragged in. "Helm, plot a course into that anomaly; quarter impulse"

"Course laid in Sir" The Helmsman replied.

"Engage"

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

 **Senior Lieutenant Lore's Quarters**

Lore sat at his desk in his quarters. A little known fact was that Lore's quarters where the only quarters aboard that did not have a bed. Instead, due to the fact that the Android's power cells continuously recharge themselves he did not require "sleep" in the same way as biological organisms did. Instead, every few days his positronic brain would (with Lore's prior knowledge) perform a self-clean of his neural pathways for about sixty seconds. This prevents the rampancy that is seen in UNSC AIs after they "expire" due to the fact that their neural nets would get so tangled up that not even the best engineer could make heads or tails of it. This function is built into almost every AI based on positronic even going as far back as me.

The Android looked down at the paper and pondered at it. _A Martyr among giants… who are the giants?_

That was the key. Lore doubted that Q was referring literally to tall humans from old Earth mythology. No, it was a metaphor for something else. A group maybe, people who are looked up to from all walks of life. But, then there was something else. The note also mentioned that this Martyr was also known as the 34th soldier.

Something crept into Lore's mind that took his attention completely away from his assigned task. Daisy-023. She was a Spartan-II Supersoldier and later a Starfleet Commando; the most elite division of special operations in the entire Starfleet. They were held to such high standards, not just physically but mentally. There is a reason why Vulcans, Clones and other Androids dominate the list of active commandos today. Applicants have to be not only physically superior to most units, but they also have to be able endure mental trauma that would rip apart a 'normal' human's sanity. In fact, this sort of betrayal hasn't happened within the Starfleet Commando Generation II in over fifty years.

"Computer, can you access Lieutenant Soren Green's visual logs from his last mission?" Lore asked.

 ** _"_** ** _Affirmative"_** The Computer replied in its usual monotonous tone.

"Play visual log from the beginning, 50x playback speed"

 ** _"_** ** _Affirmative"_** it repeated.

Suddenly, Soren's visor appeared on Lore's terminal. He watched as the events that unfolded during the mission flash by in incredible speed. Lore's eyes scanned back and forth so rapidly that to an observer would look like his eyes had turned a solid yellow. As the video rapidly played, something stood out to him. The way that Daisy acted, moved, spoke and fought was seemingly erratic. She was reckless and bold, which is nothing like what a Commando is supposed to be. After the video ended, he pulled up her file from the ship's database. It was not what he expected. According to the file, her personality type was abnormally stable for a Commando, even more so than most Vulcans. In fact, her record surpassed Soren Green's in terms of mental stability by 25 points. For this reason, she was entrusted with some of the most dangerous and tiring missions they could throw at her. Lore looked at the portrait of Daisy on file. It didn't add up.

"Computer, can you retrieve Daisy's latest brain scan?" Lore asked.

 ** _"Affirmative"_** The Computer replied.

Soon after, an image of her brain activity overlaid by a topographical scan was displayed on Lore's terminal. He studied it carefully for a good five minutes and came across something odd. "Computer, enhance section J-2"

The computer complied. The patterns that Lore was seeing was not erratic and random like one who was losing their mind. No, this was different. It was targeted, precise and predictable. Almost like the neural firing patterns emitted by positronic neurons…

"Computer, compare firing patterns from section J-2 to the rest of the subject's brain"

As the computer overlaid the patterns on top of each other it became clear that these patterns were anomalous. Unlike the rest of her brain, whose brain waves were pretty standard for a human, these were different. They were rhythmic, like whatever was emitting it was preprogrammed to do so without any regard for what the rest of the brain was doing. Lore could tell by the waves' magnitude that it was overwhelming everything else.

It suddenly clicked in Lore's mind. "Computer, access the specifications of the MA-1 thought control device used by the Enhanced Coalition during the Starfleet Insurrection of 2207 and overlay the wave configuration that it would broadcast into the cerebrum by default"

 ** _"_** ** _Accessing..."_**

The patterns matched perfectly.

Lore after realizing this immediately tapped his combadge. "Lore to Captain Braxton" he said.

 ** _"_** ** _Hello Looorreee. How ya doing my little… little pale friend?"_** Braxton slurred.

"Captain? Are you okay, Sir?" Lore replied.

 ** _"_** ** _Oh yaaa… We are having a like little party up here. Don't tell mom. Just got out of the fucking *hic* dyson sphere. There's this like massive ship outside that seems pretty cool. There is some kind of like 'Arbiter' who demanded to know who we were. Guess what I did?"_**

"What did you do?" Lore asked.

 ** _"_** ** _I sent him a picture of the middle finger!"_** The line suddenly cut with the Captain manically laughing.

"Captain? Are you there?" Lore asked flatly.

There was no reply.

Lore immediately moved to the other side of the room where his combat armor was being stored. He pressed a few buttons on the wrist of the exoskeleton and the armor popped open like a door. Lore entered his suit and it snapped shut around him. He finally put his helmet on and walked out the door of his quarters.

It was a mess.

Officers were stumbling in the halls while others pretended to be making snow angels on the floor where there was no snow. Lore looked around to see what could be causing such a massive problem in the organics. He looked behind him to see an air circulation vent in the wall behind him. _The Environmental Controls…_ Lore thought.

Lore reached for his Tricorder which was magnetically attached to his armor. He opened it (which immediately linked it to his armor) and scanned the atmosphere around him. It took about ten seconds to get the results. Everything seemed to be in order except… there was a trace amount of alcohol. It all started to click. _Alcohol isn't under the list of chemicals that would trigger the air filters in standard combat armor… but who would do this?_ Lore questioned in his head.

Using his HUD interface, Lore opened an unsecured channel to anyone aboard the ship. "This is Senior Lieutenant Lore, is there anyone who still has their faculties?"

 **Cargohold A-4**

The living arrangements were complete. Finally, Soren and the rest of the Spartans entered what would be their accommodations for the rest of their stay aboard the _Endurance_. The interior was very Spartan with no furnishings whatsoever. The way the Spartans like it. "This will be adequate" Kelly droned.

 ** _"_** ** _This is Senior Lieutenant Lore, is there anyone who still has their faculties?"_** Lore said.

Soren looked around at the Spartans confusedly as the message played through the small speaker in his wrist. Soren immediately went to grab his helmet to reply. "This is Lieutenant Soren Green, what is going on?"

 ** _"_** ** _Someone has altered the environmental controls to contaminate the ship's atmosphere with 0.1% alcohol. The human crew will die of exposure reach lethal levels within twenty-five minutes"_** Lore responded.

Soren cut the channel and turned to the Spartans. "Helmets on! All of you, now!" Soren barked.

The statement was redundant of course, as all of the Spartans had their helmets on except for Fred-104, who had no armor at all. "What is going on?" Linda asked.

"The atmosphere has been contaminated with alcohol" Soren replied hastily.

Someone suddenly tapped Soren's shoulder. He turned to see who it was, seeing Fred-104. "I need a suit" he said assertively.

Soren looked around. He remembered from his time before aboard the _Endurance_ that there was an armory across the hall. Suddenly, the cargohold doors opened and an officer walked through. "You big bad Spartans should all fucking go to hell!" She slurred. The officer was clad in basic combat armor and pulled her hand phaser on us.

Her phaser was set to beam mode as she fired lazily at the Spartans who scattered long before her drunken reflexes could react. Soren detached his hand phaser from his armor and set it to stun. He rushed from cover and hit the officer with the butt of the gun, draining her shields and tossing her gun. Before she could react, Fred grabbed the phaser and fired at her; knocking the officer to the ground. She tried to get up soon after, but ended up vomiting in her own helmet… apparently falling asleep after.

Soren pulled off her helmet to allow her to breathe, and subsequently releasing the smell that only Fred could sense due to his lack of armor. "Let's move" Soren said, gesturing towards the door.

The Spartans followed him. They walked out the cargohold doors and crossed the corridor to get to the armory, walking over sleeping bodies in the process. As they were going, Fred stumbled. Obviously, the alcohol in the air was catching up with his augmented metabolism. Soren saw this and picked up his pace, grabbing some armor hanging from one of the shelves and pressing the buttons on its wrists to open it up. "Get in" Soren commanded.

Fred did as he was told and stepped in front of the suit. It automatically scanned his proportions and adjusted accordingly. Finally, after it was done Fred put the thing on. Soren grabbed a helmet from another shelf and put it on him, hissing as it sealed. "Turn your filters to maximum" Soren ordered.

"How?" Fred asked as his HUD lit up for the first time.

"Think it!" Soren barked, obviously wanting to get going.

And so Fred did. A slight hissing sound was heard coming from his helmet indicating that the filter had started its work. Soren saw a replicator over on the other side of the room. He walked up towards it and said "Computer, replicate one vial of ethanarbizol".

Then, a vial of blue liquid appeared in the replicator slot. Soren took this vial and grabbed something from underneath one of the shelves. It was a medical kit. Soren opened the kit and grabbed a hypospray, which he then took the vial that he replicated and slided inserted it in the bottom of the device. He walked back to Fred and said "Hold still" as he injected the drug through the slot for hyposprays on his armor's neckguard.

"What was that?" Kelly asked.

"An Anti-Intoxicant, breaks down any alcohol in the blood stream. It takes a few minutes to kick in so" Soren turned to Frederic. "Try not to bump into anything"

 ** _"_** ** _Lieutenant Green, come in,"_** Lore communicated.

"Sir?" Soren asked.

 ** _"_** ** _Where are you currently located?"_** Lore said.

"Armory J-1, Sir" Soren replied.

 ** _"_** ** _I have been unable to contact Sub-Lieutenant Zanders; his vital signs show that he is currently unconscious on the bridge"_**

"Yes Sir, I can see that. But, his armor should have filtered the alcohol, right?" Soren replied, pulling up his entire team's vital signs on his HUD.

 ** _"_** ** _Yes, it should have. There may be more going on here than we realize. The main computer went offline fifteen minutes ago due to unknown causes, who knows what will go next. We must rendezvous at the bridge immediately"_** Lore said.

"Understood, we will be there shortly. Soren out"

Soren turned to face the other Spartans. His silvery armor glistened under the armory's light. "We are to rendezvous with Senior Lieutenant Lore on the bridge and get this ship under control" Soren pointed towards a rack full of PR-25 Phaser Rifles. "Help yourself to the equipment here, it is more than likely that we will encounter another angry drunk on the way".

The Spartans nodded and armed themselves. They inspected the weapons they received with great care, figuring out where all of the settings and controls were and getting used to the weapon in general. Once they finished, Soren led the way out of the small armory into the corridor. The Spartans followed, and after a few seconds they were all out in the corridor.

Soren led the way. The Spartans flanked him as he made his way down the corridor towards the turbolift. Suddenly, everything went dark and everything went to hell. Sparks flew from literally all directions from all electronic devices. Explosions rocked the ship sending an already unstable Fred on the floor, with Soren coincidentally on top of him.

"Shit!" Soren cursed as he got back up.

The Spartans immediately turned their helmets' flashlights on. Soren and Fred on the other hand were in Starfleet armor which used a combination of different sensors to 'see' in the dark. Soren walked over to one of the corridor terminals. Nothing.

Suddenly, the emergency strobe lighting kicked in, and the red alert siren wailed continuously, which only meant one thing. The ship's main computer was disabled and the emergency "reflex" systems were initiated. Ifautodestruct sequence

"The computer appears to be completely disabled. Turbolifts will be locked down; we must use the Jefferies tubes" Soren said, pointing to a grate in the hallway.

The rest of the Spartans nodded and formed a single file line behind him. Soren gripped the grate and without even disabling its locking mechanisms and rips it out of the wall, leaving slight damage to the rest of the corridor. He immediately climbs in with the Spartans following, leaving no one behind. After a few minutes of crawling, they reached an intersection that had a ladder going up. Soren pointed to it and said "That will take us directly to the bridge".

Soren climbed the ladder with the Spartans following suit below him. For a 'regular' human, such a trek up a seemingly infinitely long ladder would be quite tiresome. Spartans on the other hand, well… let's just say that it was nothing more than a 'light warmup'.

Finally, after about fifteen minutes of nonstop climbing at a very impressive pace Soren finally made it to his destination: Maintenance Intersection One. They were quite literally on the top deck even above Deck 1. The ceiling was literally the _Endurance_ 's hull plating. As more Spartans entered the cramped crawl area, Soren retreated out of the maintenance shafts and into the main corridor of Deck 1. To his right was the Main Bridge and to his left was the Observation lounge and Turbolift. As the Spartans filtered into the corridor, they heard a dull thumping sound coming from the other side of the Turbolift doors. He motioned for the Spartans that were already in the corridor to find cover, while the Spartans still in the maintenance shaft to stay put. Soren himself found no cover and ended up crouching on the far side of the corner, rifle aimed at the door.

Suddenly, the door was forced open… and Lore came walking through. Soren immediately lowered his weapon and motioned for the others to do so as well. Because in Starfleet, it was considered to be offensive to point a Phaser at a superior officer.

"Sir, I apologize. We didn't know it was you!" Soren pleaded his case.

But, the Android only stared past him. After all of this commotion, Soren failed to notice something so glaring that a civilian could notice it with ease. Soren turned slowly to what the Lore was staring at. The doors that led to the bridge. However, a flag was adorned on the doors that led to the bridge. "No… it cannot be" Soren breathed.

The flag had blood red bars which swept across it on the top and bottom. Through the middle of the flag was a white patch, which had three jet black stars… the one in the center slightly bigger than the other two. The UNSC Spartans had no clue what they were staring at, but those who knew of what that flag meant… what it represents were disgusted. The feelings that Soren felt looking at the flag is similar to a German in the 1970's looking at the Swastika.

"What is that?" Kelly asked.

It took a moment, but Lore responded with "That… is the flag of the Enhanced Coalition. They were what you would call an 'insurrectionist' group; whose sole purpose was to topple the United Republic of Planets with a fascist regime. They believed that the natural and weak should bow before genetically and physically superior species and subspecies. However, in practice, the Enhanced Coalition did not rally that much support for their cause in the traditional way. Instead, they hijacked the remaining combat droids left in service from the EDF era and raised an army of 150-"

"I think they have heard enough" Soren said, now facing the doors to the bridge.

Soren approached the flag that was on the door. In a flash, Soren's arm moved and tore the flag off the door, leaving the thing in rags on the floor. He then got his fingers between the doors and pushed them out with no effort at all. Like the rest of the ship, it was pitch black… save for one bright teal-blue glow in the captain's chair. Soren stepped on the bridge, which was dead silent. The teal-blue glow faced Soren only to become a light identical to that Soren's visor produces in the dark.

"Hello Soren, I have been expecting you" A dreadfully familiar, feminine voice cooed.


	12. Intruder Alert

**Chapter 12 - Intruder Alert**

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

 **Bridge**

Soren stepped back in shock. "How could you have escaped… you're responsible for all of this! Aren't you!" Soren accused while pointing at her.

"Why me? Well, I can say that I was the one who filtered ethanol into the atmosphere. But, destroying the ship's computer and navigation was the good crew's decision in their drunken stupor" Daisy spoke with a twist of irritation. She continued "Why do you defend them Soren? You and I, the Spartans and others could do so much more if we were just given what we deserve. We could rule over what is the Republic now with an iron fist! It is your birthright!"

"I do not believe that you actually are thinking in this manner" Lore interjected, stepping onto the bridge.

"What do you mean?" Daisy replied, veering backwards. "Lore, you are a superior being to even us Spartans! You should lead the Enhanced-"

"After reviewing the brain scans that your previous set of armor took, it seems that you do not wish what you have done" Lore droned while stepping towards her.

"What do you mean?" Daisy asked hesitantly with Soren giving Lore a confused look behind his visor.

"You are under the influence of an MA-1 implant; you have been resisting it. That is the reason you could not finish off Jai by yourself" Lore continued, stepping towards her. "What about the primitive tactics you used on Shield 006?"

"No… that's not true. That's impossible!" Daisy cried, stepping backwards in fear.

"Search your feelings, you know it to be true!" Lore said, arm stretched out towards her.

Suddenly, Daisy started to shake as if she was about to explode. Her legs started to wobble. Finally, she fell to her knees and ripped her helmet off. She clutched her head. "AGGHH! NOOO!" She hollered in pain. She suddenly froze and her previously glazed over eyes became clear.

It all came back to her. "What have I done?" She breathed as her eyes rolled back.

Lore rushed to her side and grabbed before she could fully collapse to the ground. Lore took his helmet off and placed it on the floor. She reached out to touch the Android's face. "Lore, I am so sorry" She croaked.

Then, she went limp.

"Is she-"

"Deceased? Negative, she is unconscious" Lore sighed as he got up. "She has to be taken to sickbay so the device can be removed from her cortex."

"With all due respect sir, we've got bigger problems than this" Soren countered while staring into the dead viewscreen. "Half of the crew will be dead within ten minutes if we cannot administer the anti-intoxicant into the air"

Lore glanced at the Spartans who were making their way onto the bridge with them. Lore knew that this would be an uphill battle, with the main computer disabled they would either have to reactivate it (somehow) or manually power the ventilation system and pour the gaseous form of the drug into the pump directly. He calculated that the task would take over fifteen minutes if they had to do it all manually, and by then over 25% of the crew would have died of alcohol poisoning. If they could make their way to the central computer core five decks down and reactivate the computer, it could cut the time down to five minutes, well within the ten before the crew started dying in large numbers. However, if the core were to be damaged beyond repair and they had to then manually circulate the antidote throughout the ship, it would take about 20 minutes in total before they could circulate the drug. By that time, Lore calculated in under a split second that about 50% of the crew; about 400 people would die.

There was not nearly enough time to deliberate with his staff, so he made the call. "We head for the Starboard Computer Core, it is our best shot to saving the crew and retaking the ship. Spartans, remain here and watch Daisy, ensure she does not harm herself or others. Soren, you are with me"

The conscious crew nodded and got to work. Soren flanked his superior as they left the darkened bridge while the Spartans surrounded their former comrade. Before Soren could leave the bridge however, a hand grabbed his arm and spun him around. It was Fred, and he wanted to come.

Noticing something was amiss, Lore spun on his heel to see what was going on with Soren. In under a millisecond, Lore decided that fighting with Fred to stay would just waste valuable time and would jeopardize the objective, so grudgingly he gestured for both of them to come along. _This is going to be a long day_ Lore thought, trying to emulate a human thought pattern.

The three officers climbed their way down the service tunnel's ladder. The Starboard Computer Core's main control room was on Deck 7 while they were descending from Deck 1. For a team of average Starfleet personnel, it would take approximately ten minutes to navigate to the control room. It took Lore, Fred and Soren just under sixty seconds.

Still in pitch black darkness, after endless navigation through endless tunnels, the group of officers reached a grate that peered into a corridor. Directly adjacent was the door to the Computer Core. Without a second thought, Soren punched the grating: denting and sending it flying with a loud clang. They got out of the cramped tunnel and crossed the corridor. Lore got his fingers in between the sliding doors and pried them open.

Suddenly, Soren's HUD displayed a warning that no commando would like to see when they are vulnerable. **_Proximity Alert._**

Soren's gaze darted to his superior officer and then Fred, who was getting the same warning. A map appeared in the corner of his HUD, showing him where the offending lifesigns were located. For a moment, Soren believed them to be just more drunken personnel that managed to hold the intoxicating effects of the alcohol at bay. However, the lifesigns that were detected were too organized and seemed to be searching the ship. They seemed to have fanned out from what had to be Hangar Bay: something that Soren dreaded to think about. He then initiated a deeper scan to see what species the lifesigns belonged to.

After just under ten seconds of scanning, Soren's HUD displayed the results. His blood ran cold as his eyes froze over in old terror.

"Sangheili" Soren breathed.

Fred's gaze snapped towards Soren in shock.

"It is now more imperative than ever that we get the computer online" Lore droned, "Let us move!"

Soren and Fred did as they were told, scanning the hallway for any unwelcome guests from interrupting them. Then, they moved into the control room with Lore; who was already performing diagnostics. An officer was slumped over the main control panel, with vomit all over it.

Lore carefully put the officer on the floor and sat down at the desk. It was times like these where Soren was immensely grateful for the air filters in his helmet so that he would not have to smell the foul semi-liquid smeared over the console. But, nonetheless Lore wiped away the substance as if it were mere water, not caring about its foul properties. He did however, make a mental note to wash his hands at his earliest convenience as he had observed in the past that humans don't like shaking their hands with dirty hands.

Lore pressed a few buttons on the console, only to discover it was completely dead.

Soren desperately looked around for anything that could be inhibiting Lore from starting the main computer. As he scanned the room with his eyes and HUD, he noticed something peculiar. Someone had obviously in their drunken stupor shut the flipped the main energy breaker into the off position. This created a cascade effect in which every computer on the ship instantly shut down, as the Starboard Computer's breaker also routes power to all of the other Computer Cores. This was a known fault in the Galaxy Class' design: in fact, the _Endurance_ was to be retrofitted at Mars Spacedock to correct this fault, but the ship was assigned to escort the _Enterprise_ (which was only planned to take a week… but ended up taking twice that time).

Soren flipped the switch.

Suddenly, the lights turned on. It took a few seconds for the conscious crew to adjust. The Computer immediately jumped the ship to red alert and blared, **_"WARNING, intruders detected on decks 3, 7, 8, 10, 23, and 30. Quarantining…"_**

"Computer, replace the ethanol from the atmosphere with ethanarbizol at a concentration of 2500 parts per million" Lore ordered.

The Computer complied; releasing the anti-intoxicant into the air. They could hear hissing sounds all around them.

"It may take a couple hours for the crew to come around" Soren added, "Recommend we beam directly to the bridge to ascertain our current situation."

Lore nodded and said, "Computer, use the site to site transporter function to beam three to the bridge."

 ** _"_** ** _Affirmative"_**

Suddenly, the group the dematerialized and before they knew it they were on the bridge. The Spartans seemed slightly shocked by their sudden appearance: apparently, they were not entirely used to the concept of matter-energy transport. Instinctively, Soren scanned the bridge. He noticed something that he hadn't when the bridge was dark: David lying on the floor.

Lore sat in the Captain's chair, and ordered the viewscreen to be turned onto whatever was directly in front of the ship. Soren moved through the crowd of Spartans on the bridge guarding Daisy's unconscious body. The Starfleet Commando took his former temporary position on this very bridge: Tactical.

Soren did as Lore ordered and turned the viewscreen onto the camera that looked forwards from the bridge. What filled the viewscreen turned the Spartans' blood cold.

A CAS-class assault carrier.

Lore immediately stood from the Captain's chair in 'awe'. The ship was massive by Republic standards; being over five kilometers long. but as the old saying goes: _size matters not_.

Soren's console started beeping. He looked down on it and said, "We are being hailed."

Lore turned to Soren; calculating his next move. He then turned to the Spartans and said, "Take Daisy and remove yourselves from the bridge. Your presence has a 97.5% chance of setting a bad impression during first contact procedure."

The Spartans nodded and Kelly carried the unconscious Spartan with the rest of them following. With a whoosh the Spartans were out the door of the bridge; leaving Soren and Lore alone with the currently unconscious bridge crew. "Onscreen" Lore ordered.

With a few taps from Soren's fingers, the viewscreen instantly changed from a live image of the ship hailing them to a live feed from the bridge of said ship. In the center of view, a large Sangheili stood with others working around him at different stations. He was clad in silver, reflective armor that was similar to most commando armor. The armor was not however, standard issue as Lore noted off the bat. It then suddenly clicked in both Soren and Lore's minds. The Elite that stood before them was the Arbiter or Thel 'Vadam.

 ** _"_** ** _I am Thel 'Vadam, Kaidon of Sangheilios"_** Thel started.

"I am Senior Lieutenant Lore of the United Republic of Planets, and Acting Captain of this vessel" Lore greeted, "I apologize for the lack of communication. As you are most likely aware, my ship has experienced various… difficulties. We mean you no harm."

 ** _"_** ** _Yes, indeed. I dispatched my warriors to attempt to discover what was going on over there. The only response we received from your Captain was a picture of his middle finger"_** Thel said, **_"When your ship started back up, we lost contact with them, what have you done with them?"_**

"Our Computer's security protocols dictate that it must contain any unauthorized lifeforms from moving throughout the ship. Your warriors seem to have been caught by this and are trapped behind forcefields throughout the ship" Lore droned.

Thel started to growl when Lore interjected, "If you are willing to overlook this… incident, we would be more than willing to receive you and your delegation aboard our ship to collect your Elites in about two hours when the rest of my crew recovers. We have never meant you or your warriors any harm"

Thel nodded, **_"Two hours. We will dock in your primary hangar where my initial boarding party landed. If you so much as lay a finger on one of my warriors…"_**

With that, Thel 'Vadam closed the channel, leaving the _Endurance's_ conscious bridge crew to stare at his ship.


	13. Who Knocks These Days?

**Chapter 13 - Who knocks these days?**

 **[AI OVERRIDE]**

 **Hello everyone, I would like to point out a few major changes about this story: effective immediately after this chapter is published. First, the rating of this story has been downgraded from "M" to "T" due to the simple fact that there will not be sufficient graphic content to justify such a rating. Second, the tag "Romance" will be removed for two reasons: One, the plot never majorly revolved around Soren and Fred's relationship. Even if they were completely straight and even if were enemies the plot would commence roughly in the same fashion. Furthermore, I have decided to cut out the majority of their intimate scenes simply to prevent this story from becoming a romantic comedy. Now, I am not cutting their relationship out completely, just toning it down a bit.**

 **Also, Memory Theta also now has a DeviantArt account which will contain additional content and information (such as flags and documents) pertaining to the Memory Theta Fanfiction Universe. A link to it has been posted on Memory Theta's profile.**

 **Anyway, I hope this helps clear things up.**

 **[REDACTED], Retrofitted First Generation Challenger Class AI**

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

 **Main Bridge**

If one didn't know better, they would think Lore to be frustrated. He was thrown into a first contact situation with a potentially hostile, almost impossibly massive ship… with his Commanding Officer and ship incapacitated. The crew however, one by one started to wake up with a common, excruciating headache.

Lore sat in the Captain's chair, giving orders to everyone who was currently conscious. They had just under two hours to be completely ready for the Sangheili's reception… and suddenly, sparks flew from one of the consoles behind him.

The ship was to put it lightly, in disrepair.

Apparently, while under the influence of the biochip that was mysteriously implanted on Daisy's cerebral cortex, she didn't just filter the atmosphere with ethanol. Daisy also snuck in a taste of Oxytocin, Vasopressin and Corticotropin (basically, those three chemicals are the ingredients for the brain's recipe for rage). This mix of mind altering chemicals caused the crew to not only lose their judgement and self-control, but to also become enraged lunatics, destroying everything around them.

Lore glanced at the computer terminal which was embedded into the armrest of the command chair. Propulsion was completely disabled, even impulse. While power was mostly restored, the warp core was offline as was any non-essential system. The one fusion reactor that was still operational was the only thing keeping the lights on.

While fusion reactors did provide almost infinite energy, they were still limited. It would take about five minutes to charge the forward phaser array's capacitors to half power for a five second beam. This was the reason that under normal circumstances there were at least three fusion reactors running simultaneously for each impulse engine running. However, for reasons previously stated; only one reactor out of nine passed the automated safety checks before activation to prevent a meltdown. Obviously, they were damaged, the extent however was unknown at the time as the crew literally struggled to regain control of the crippled vessel.

"Sir, it seems that the Commander will be out for the next hour or two." A recently awoken member of the medical staff informed.

Lore snapped out of his trance and nodded to the officer. He noticed that the Spartans were starting to filter back onto the bridge, apparently to see what was happening. The Android noticed that the one wearing Starfleet combat armor, Frederic-104, always seemed to stand close to Soren wherever he went. Fred even disobeyed orders to follow Soren to the computer core, something that Lore simply didn't have time to neither prevent or stop. He pondered if there was something more going on between the two of them.

Something didn't entirely smell right, the Republic had a large presence in the UNSC's galaxy. They should have detected them already.

Suddenly, one of the turbolift doors connecting to the bridge violently exploded outwards. Smoke and sparks flew as the bridge's current occupants dove into cover: preparing for a fight. Soren pulled a hand phaser from under the tactical console and pointed it at the door. Then, two soldiers clad in silvery armor swung out of the turboshaft and onto the bridge armed with Type-III phaser rifles.

"Stand down!" Soren bellowed at what he recognized as Starfleet Commandos.

The troopers' gaze as well as their aim darted around the bridge. One of them looked at the Commando which was pointing his phaser at her and said, "771?"

"It is good to see you again, T'men" Soren replied.

The two commandos lowered their weapons. Soren scanned the turboshaft, only to discover that there were two more of them waiting for a signal just below.

"Identify yourself!" Lore commanded, obviously angered by their intrusion.

"SCX-764. The rest is classified for obvious reasons" T'men droned, giving the Spartans a slight glance. "Sir, you are aware that the UNSC is on the Starfleet no-contact list?"

The Spartans looked at Lore with unease from under their helmets.

"I am aware. Commander Braxton and my logs have kept a record of our reasoning for breaching protocol. I calculate the logs will have a 76.5% chance of fully holding up in a potential formal inquiry or court martial" Lore assured.

"I do not believe that will be necessary. It has been confirmed that Starfleet will initiate formal first contact procedure with the UEG imminently. Starfleet Intelligence has been making preparations for the past three months" T'men informed, "Republic intelligence fears that if we do not make our presence visible, the violence from this galaxy may spill over past our borders. Every day that we delay, the chance of an information leak regarding the location of Gamma Wormhole increases."

While the Vulcan Commando spoke on about the geopolitical ramifications of the Republic revealing itself, the two other commandos that were hiding in the turboshaft climbed onto the bridge and slithered behind their comrades. The first one was similar to the other commandos that initially jumped onto the bridge; guns drawn. The second one simply towered over his comrades, being over 2.3 meters tall in armor.

Kelly noted this Starfleet Commando's rank insignia, two full rank pips plus one half pip. Her eyes wandered back to Lore, when she noticed something crucial. _This other Commando holds the same rank as Lore, so he logically must be team leader… yet why isn't he doing all of the talking_ Kelly pondered.

The taller commando stared at Soren, who stared back at him. They obviously knew each other, and unbeknownst to the Spartans, they were on a private comm which was encrypted and unrecorded: making it impossible for this system to extrapolate their conversation. It did however, last for under a minute. The taller Commando stepped off the bridge into one of the connecting corridors. To the Spartans' surprise, Soren followed him with great haste; manually closing the door on his way out.

Fred suddenly felt a sense of Deja Vu when he saw how the taller and admittedly larger commando moved. He felt somewhat jealous that Soren would run off with whoever this Commando was without even giving him an explanation.

"He's awake!" An officer called from the Ready Room.

Suddenly, before anyone could react, Commander Braxton stumbled out of his room and fell to one knee. "Report!" He groaned.

Lore immediately helped him up to his feet and with everyone watching, sat him down in the Captain's chair.

"What happened?" Braxton croaked.

Lore looked his Commanding Officer straight in the eyes, analyzing his facial expressions and breathing patterns. He was looking for signs of Theodore being under the influence of the drug that once filled the air. He found none. "The ship has been transported out of the Dyson sphere. However, we have not been returned to where we were. We have actually been transported to universe gamma. Apparently, just before the ship was transported, Daisy-023 escaped and released a mixture of ethanol, incapacitating the crew and causing some to go mad. the warp drive is disabled and one of nine fusion reactors are currently operational. We had a Sangheili boarding party which is currently trapped between forcefields. We have a CAS class assault carrier off our bow, with its CO is boarding in an hour and forty minutes. Finally, just a few moments ago these Commandos barged in for a currently unknown." Lore said.

"Where is she?" Braxton demanded, referring to Daisy.

"Daisy is currently in sickbay: sedated. We recently discovered that she was under the influence of a Starfleet Insurrection era control chip. I suspect that her actions that led to her arrest were also affected by the device." Lore explained.

The Commander was stunned, _how is it possible for Daisy to have one of those implanted in this age? The Starfleet insurrection was wiped out over two centuries ago; along with their ideology!_ He thought.

Braxton looked around the bridge. A look of confusion swept across his face as he saw the Tactical station was not manned. "Where's David?" he demanded in a harsh tone, obviously annoyed that the crew would make the exact same mistake of leaving a bridge station unmanned: twice.

"Right here, Commander" a voice affirmed.

The present bridge crew turned to the source of the voice. It was David; perfectly dressed in his Commando variant combat armor, with its glossy red and black finish glistening under the bridge's lighting. "I apologize for the lack of transparency. It is standard protocol for a Commando unit without specific orders during an unknown crisis to discover and potentially eliminate the cause of said crisis" David explained, "When I saw the crew going into what looked like a drunken stupor, including you, Commander; I decided it would be best to go into stealth mode"

"Why didn't you report when I opened communications asking for any personnel still functional?" Lore questioned while folding his arms in a futile attempt of intimidation.

"By that time I had already discovered the Sangheili aboard the ship. I disguised as one of them and misdirected them around the ship away from key systems" David explained, "When you called, I was in the presence of ten 'elites'. If I were to suddenly disappear and run away, that would have broken cover"

Theodore seemed irritated, but not by Dave's actions. "This line of questioning is a complete waste of time: save it for the logs!" He snapped.

A wave of nods ripped through the bridge. Braxton finally relaxed for a few moments and asked "Where is Soren?"

"He went with his buddy, 734" one of T'men's commandos said nonchalantly.

The Captain nodded slightly, while the same commando chuckled darkly "I guess he is going to have a… chat with Daisy."

"And why would he want to do that?" Kelly asked, stepping forward.

Lore's eyes flicked over to T'men while she took a deep breath. The Captain buried his face under his hands and the other Commando looked away.

No one gave a response to Kelly's question.

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

 **Deck 7, Corridor J-12**

Footsteps from armored boots echoed through the hallway. The lights flickered from the damage inflicted upon the ship by its formerly madly drunk crew. Sparks fell from the ceiling as the wiring was partially striped.

Two Commandos come into view, both clad in their armor; which surface was perfectly reflective not unlike a mirror. One of them was over 2.3 meters tall, which nearly touched the ceiling in a few areas. The other one was not nearly as tall, being only about two meters from head to toe.

"You realize that this isn't going to end well... right?" Soren nagged, "I couldn't -"

The taller Commando grabbed Soren's arm and spun him around to face him. "Listen to yourself! We are both Starfleet Commandos! We aren't the innocent six-year-olds we used to be… we are soldiers!"

"But it won't work, I tried… they saw right through my disguise and most of them didn't even like me!" Soren protested under his breath, whilst taking his helmet off.

"Ha, Soren" 734 barely chuckled, "You barely passed infiltration testing in the academy! Besides, it's a well-known fact that when strong emotional connections are involved; particularly with strong friendship or worse, romance, infiltration performance plummets."

Soren's face almost instantly contorted into a frown. 734 pretty much verbally bitchslapped him and his entire argument. Taking the bait however, Soren asked, "What is that supposed to mean?"

734's mouth curled into a shit-eating smile behind his helmet. He then enabled his voice changer to fake Soren's voice and moaned, "Oh Fred! Please… yes... more!"

Soren's cheeks turned a very dark shade of crimson. "When did the hell did I ever say that?"

"Five years ago. We were on a joint mission, remember?" 734 reminded, "I was on watch duty while you were sleeping and well, that came out"

Soren looked away in embarrassment. He simply couldn't believe what was being said to him. It was a verbal bitch slap, especially for a member of one of the most elite special ops divisions that prides itself on its emotional control. In the heat of the bickering soldiers' argument, they forgot to watch their sensors in the top corner of the HUD: which was angrily blinking at them to pay attention. By the time Soren finally paid attention, it was too late.

"Excuse me?" A voice called from down the corridor, "Could you explain the reason for the ship's disrepair… why are there Elites trapped between force fields and why did I find myself passed out in front of one!"

Soren's head and body snapped towards the source of the voice, while 734 lazily turned. In the corridor stood Doctor Halsey with Chief Mendez. Their clothes were crumpled, while their hair was an absolute mess.

"The ship was hijacked by Daisy-023, ma'am, but the situation is now under control" Soren assured.

The Doctor pursed her lips and Mendez furrowed his brow. Catherine seemed quite disturbed by the fact that one of her (former) Spartans could not only betray her entire team but, also escape from the _Endurance_ 's brig. "Where is she?" Mendez growled with his eyes blazing, "Get me my humbler, I am going to give her a beating that no Spartan has ever face!"

734 almost visibly winced at that comment, while Soren said, "She is currently in sickbay after we discovered she was under the influence of a thought manipulating biochip"

"A what?" Mendez barked.

"A device grafted onto a victim's prefrontal cortex to alter their thought patterns and emotions" Soren explained, "They were used to 'convert' potential recruits to the side of the Enhanced Coalition during the Starfleet Insurrection of 2207, which is considered by the most to be the bloodiest conflict in Republic Starfleet history"

Catherine nodded thoughtfully, while Franklin Mendez's focus shifted to the taller commando. "Who the hell is this?" Franklin asked.

734 stepped forward and enabled his built in voice modulator, which in essence allows a commando to not only mimic nearly any voice, but to pick up and mimic someone else's speech pattern and frequency after recording only a few sentences. "Greetings, I am Starfleet Commando SCX-734. It is a pleasure to meet you" he smiled, extending his hand to shake both of their hands.

 _Damn, he's good_ Soren thought.

The way that Soren's comrade moved was so… natural and unspartan-like. He doubted that Mendez or even Doctor Halsey even suspected who he really was. _Damn, he was always better than me. Then again, I suppose that I really didn't try too hard at the SPARTAN-II bootcamp._

 ****"Enough with the service tags, what is your name?" The Doctor inquired, hoping to see if she could trick him into revealing something.

"That's classified, Ma'am. But, what I can tell you is that I'm not one of your lab rats unlike little Sorie here" 734 grinned while patting his smaller comrade's pauldron.

 ** _"_** ** _We're going to have a chat about you calling me 'Sorie'"_** Soren growled over a private comm channel.

734 chuckled out loud, confusing the two UNSC humans that stood before him. Soren shoved him slightly to the side and said "We should get you to the bridge, Captain Braxton will want to have a chat with you. Unfortunately, the turbolifts are currently disabled due to a lack of energy, we will have to take the service tunnels."

"Lead the way" Doctor Halsey ordered with an ever so subtle cheerful undertone.

Soren nodded and gestured to them to follow. He started walking down the hallway the way they came. A few meters later, he crouched down and detached the grill from the tunnel that connected with the corridor. Setting it aside, Soren gestured for them to enter with 734 entering first, Halsey and Mendez second and finally Soren last. He could tell by the Doctor's face that she was not pleased with having to crawl through dimly lit service tunnels through the ship.

 _Just when I thought this ship was comfortable_ Halsey mentally lamented.

They reached a service junction and 734 climbed the ladder upwards. With a grunt Halsey pressed on behind him, earning her a slight chuckle from CPO Mendez.

"So, 734, what's your backstory?" Mendez asked with his voice labored by climbing the ladder, "How long have you known Soren?"

Reaching the final junction on Deck 1, 734 got off the ladder and set foot on deck. "I met him during training" was all he said while helping Doctor Halsey up the last few steps.

"Ah… I see" Franklin replied; somewhat fatigued by climbing the ladder.

The Doctor looked around the cramped space and faced the exit. "We mustn't keep the Captain waiting"

"Of course" Soren replied, letting her lead the way from that point.

When Catherine stepped out of the service tunnel, she was hard pressed to see the state of the ship. Sparks randomly fell from the lights and power conduits. Many of the computer terminals in the hallway were smashed. And worst of all, it stunk like vomit. Not wanting to stay in this horrid space, the Doctor swiftly made her way for the entrance to the bridge. The doors whooshed open as she entered. She also noticed the state the bridge itself was in. One of the turbolift doors was blown open with the actual door fragments on the ground. Commander Braxton was seated in his chair, giving orders like mad, trying to control the situation. Officers were scurrying around the bridge, taking orders and giving them.

Noticing that she had entered, Commander Braxton got up from his chair and said, "Doctor, I apologize for… this. Daisy-023 escaped and released ethanol among other chemicals into the atmosphere; causing the crew to go mad and causing this situation."

Before Catherine could open her mouth, a blinding flash of light pierced the bridge's air. Even the Spartans with polarized visors flinched. Readjusting to the light on the bridge the Theodore made out the rough outline of humanoid standing in the center of the room. As his eyes further adjusted to the light, his face went from that of surprise to pure shock. As the humanoid that was standing before them was wearing a CQB variant MJOLNIR Mark IV suit. He towered over everyone, except for 734, at 7 feet 2 inches. But, one thing about the armor stood out that froze every Spartan-II's (including Halsey and Mendez) heart. Its left breast plate had a massive plasma burn through it, seemingly created by a covenant plasma weapon. However, that was far from the most damning thing about the suit. For right above the massive plasma gash was the numbers printed in white text: 034.

"Sam…" Halsey whispered, "Is that you?"

The giant turned his head slowly towards the doctor, and then looking the other way at the Spartans, who were thinking they were seeing ghosts. Finally, the towering figure stared at 734, who was unbecomingly tense. It started to walk towards him. The Commando responded by stepping backwards in a defensive posture. "This isn't possible" 734 breathed.

Despite this, the MJOLNIR clad individual kept pressing on towards him with its footsteps becoming seemingly ever louder. With everyone watching, 734 backed away against a wall: "Identify yourself, imposter!"

"What you did was stupid, Sam" the figure droned in Samuel-034's fourteen-year-old voice. "You will never be the 34th soldier again"

"I know" 734 replied quietly.


	14. Right on Q

**Chapter 14 - Right on Q**

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

 **Main Bridge**

The figure stopped moving inches away from the Commando's body, highlighting their exact same height. "I don't know how you Spartans do it, but this is probably one of the stuffiest things I have ever been in!" Said the figure in another familiar voice.

"Q!" Braxton growled, "What the hell are you doing!"

Q turned around in 'his' MJOLNIR armor: "Well, I thought I would stop by after you managed to get out of that bubble" He said while ambling around the bridge.

"And that includes going around being a doppelganger of a deceased Spartan?" 734 accused.

Q turned his head to face 734 and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the MJOLNIR armor that once encased his body vanished in a flash of light, leaving Q exposed in a Federation Starfleet uniform. "Please, you can cut the facade. It's so obvious" he nonchalantly said.

The Spartans just stood and watched the situation unfold in front of them. They were royally pissed at this being, Q, for impersonating what many consider to be their martyr. "How dare you desecrate Sam's memory by wearing that armor" Kelly hissed as she aimed her M9C at him.

"Would you look at that," Q cooed, "The rabbit still cares for you."

"Who or what are you?" Doctor Halsey asked.

Q spun around to meet the old Doctor's eyes. He gazed at her intently like she was some sort of specimen to be observed. "Well, what do we have here? You aren't like the other humans I have played with, no, you aren't as pitifully noble as them. Yes, you do what needs to be done!" he exclaimed. "We call ourselves the Q-"

"Basically, they're the galaxy's greatest nuisance" Soren interrupted.

Q's face contorted into a frown and proclaimed, "You shall pay for your disrespect!"

"We will not play your game, Q." Soren asserted.

Q's face suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree, making everyone who knew him feel very, very, nervous. "Game? Did somebody say game?"

"Aw, hell..." was all that Braxton was able to say before Q snapped his fingers, teleporting them far… far… away.

 **The Plains of Neumann, Mars**

 **Stardate [UNKNOWN]**

Like any other day on Mars, it was dry and barren. Ironically, its toxic, inhospitable atmosphere was as calm as an undisturbed pond. The natural satellites of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, respectively, gazed down upon their red planet. The sky was black, and the stars shone like diamonds,

Suddenly, a flash briefly lit the Martian plain, revealing ten figures in 23rd Century Starfleet Armor. They seemed to be confused to their whereabouts, as they spun around in random directions; trying to ascertain where they were.

"Q, where have you taken us!" Commander Braxton growled.

Another brief flash lit the plain, and out of nowhere, Q appeared. He was however, not in his usual attire. His rank insignia was on his now spread collar: three oak leaves with an olive wreath wrapped around it. The uniform itself was jet black and resembled officer uniforms from the early 20th century to the mid-21st century. "Now Captain, that would spoil the fun, wouldn't it?" he chuckled, then vanishing immediately after.

The Captain gave the landscape a double take. Behind his antiquated helmet he was shocked. "The Plains of Neumann" he murmured.

"Yes Sir, this was the location of the famous battle-" Lore said before he was interrupted by a sound -more like a song being blared over all channels.

"It cannot be…" Soren gulped.

The march's beat became more clear after a few seconds. There were no words, but the tune was unmistakable. "What is that song, it sounds familiar…" Halsey inquired.

Commander Braxton looked at her and replied, "That song has been used by various far-right organizations as their anthem. Most famously by Nazi Germany, but, the Enhanced Coalition had used it as their de facto anthem."

"What is the Enhanced Coalition?" Kelly asked.

Before anyone could open their mouth, three photonic shells detonated near them, sending the group flying in the air. Luckily, their armor absorbed the shock and no one in the group was injured. "GET DOWN!" A voice cried behind them.

While Halsey and Mendez was knocked out by the initial blast, the rest of the group still conscious. Theodore got to his feet as his vision cleared, but was pulled back down again by something else. "I TOLD YOU TO STAY DOWN TROOPER!" the voice berated.

Braxton didn't even comprehend what was happening around him. He slowly cocked his head to see who scolded him. He was clad in Mark IX Starfleet Combat Armor variant… which was only ever used by Starfleet Clone Troopers. His eyes widened in sudden realization that they were no longer in the 24th century -no, they were in the 23rd.

The trooper looked at his rank insignia. Suddenly, his body language changed from condescending to courteous. "Sir, I had no idea, forgive me."

Braxton checked where the rank insignia would be on current Starfleet armor (on the left breast) and found nothing. His mind went quickly back to his old history teacher, who taught a whole class on the evolution of the Starfleet Armor from all the way back to the EDF Era. It took a few seconds of thinking to remember that on 23rd century uniforms/armor, the rank insignia was always on the wrist. He looked, and sure enough, there were four stripes, indicating the rank of commander.

He looked back at the trooper again and smiled, "No, that is quite alright. You most likely saved my life. What is your name?"

The trooper was taken aback by the question, but responded: "Scorch, Sir. RCT-1041."

"Well, Scorch, we have a battle to win"

"Yes Sir!"

Braxton pressed a few buttons on his wrist and his armor's HUD appeared before him. Curiously, he was already connected the PrimusNET, and all of his credentials were valid. Suddenly, he received a message from an unknown sender. He opened it.

 ** _"_** ** _Let's see how this will play out -Q"_**

With the message, he attached two documents… both of which were personnel files. Curiosity overwhelming him, he opened the files, only to reveal something terrifying. Q was masquerading as an Enhanced Coalition General… even replacing his files on the EC's database to match his own description… as he had done for Braxton himself. According to the 23rd Century Starfleet, Theodore Braxton was Commander of the 501st battalion protecting one of the Republic's most key facilities on Mars at the time… which was their intelligence hub, literally named "The Hub".

His mind went back to his history textbook and something startled him. _Q… he was General Henrich Talbot during the Starfleet Insurrection_.

Q had inserted Braxton and himself into pivotal parts of Republic history, Braxton knew this now and, he would not fail what he has upheld for his entire life. The Commander looked up at the Martian ridge ahead of him. He knew that Q would have a few surprises up sleeve beyond that the history textbooks told.

"What are we going to do?" Soren asked.

"Q has apparently appointed me to be Commander of the 501st Ground Battalion, you will integrate into my ranks as shown on your wrists. Q wants a fight? I'll give him one"

"Sir, this action you are proposing violates almost every clause of the Temporal Prime Directive. I am afraid that-" Lore was cut off by an explosion that went off beside him.

Ignoring what Lore had to say after, he opened a channel to his forces, "Commence Ground Echelon Formation Gamma One"

"Affirmative Sir, we are getting into position" responded one of his Lieutenants.

"We will drive these traitorous scum back, prepare to move forward on my mark" Braxton ordered.

Theodore watched as his battalion moved into position. He smiled at the fact that his troops from the _Endurance_ weren't making that much of a fuss about it. Doctor Halsey still remained unconscious on the ground with Mendez, something that Braxton was most appreciative of.

"Mark!" he cried.

Suddenly, Braxton, the battalion he was given, some of his own service members from the _Endurance_ and the Spartans charged forward in perfect formation. The Spartans still did not have a clue what was going on. But, they just went with the flow until they could get more information. Their charge slowed as they reached cover halfway. By this point, a small minority of Braxton's battalion was picked off, but, no significant losses. The Coalition on the other hand were in a much worse situation. Since their reprogrammed Z-24 Android Lieutenant didn't anticipate them to move so quickly, they were completely unprepared for the first wave, destroying much of their forward defense.

However, this didn't stop Theodore from speculating that Q had something else planned. If Q does one thing right, is that he makes his games challenging and unpredictable. Nevertheless, he ordered his battalion forwards. Above, fightercraft screeched through the sky in a manic dogfight. Braxton made a note to be mindful of them not falling on his head.

A flurry of plasma rounds whizzed past Braxton and his service members from the last Coalition troops on the ridge. After a few minutes of fighting, the ridge was theirs. But, something just didn't feel right to Commander Braxton. _This was too easy… very un-Q-like_ he thought.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a massive Advanced Aerial Carrier descended from the sky in front of them. Braxton used his HUD's built in zoom function to see who was in the cockpit. Before he could make out who was there, the pilot of the Carrier turned on the loudspeakers attached to the ship's hull and said, "You didn't seriously think it would be that easy, did you?"

"No" Commander Theodore Braxton replied.

"Well, you're wrong… you win!"

Before anyone could react, Q snapped his fingers and the world faded to black.

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

 **Main Bridge**

Commander Braxton opened his eyes to see the _Endurance's_ bridge. His eyes darted around to see the rest of his crew waking up. He wobbly got to his feet and barked, "report!"

Lore reactivated himself and manned his station. He tapped a few buttons and said, "We are exactly where we were before Q transported us to Mars, sir."

"Is the Arbiter's ship still there?" Theodore asked.

"Yes, Sir" Lore replied, "No significant time has passed since our last encounter with Q."

 _Good_ Theodore thought as he looked at the viewscreen. He quite honestly had no idea what he was going to do with Q messing with time and space, hell, this whole detour through the UNSC galaxy was all orchestrated by him. But why?

"Sir, we have reconnected to the Republic Command Network, and apparently a ship has been dispatched at high warp to assist us" Lore informed.

The Commander sat back down into his chair and inquired, "Can you identify it?"

"Yes Sir, it appears to be the RSS _Xenon_ ; Supreme Commander Daniel Flynn's personal flagship" Lore replied.

The crew on the bridge were taken aback. What was the Supreme Commander doing here of all places? Why would he personally want to be here? But, given everything that was happening from covenant warships outside, Daisy-023 in surgery and the ship being in rags, the crew really wasn't at this point surprised by anything.

"How long until the _Xenon_ arrives?" Theodore gulped.

"Three hours, Sir," Lore droned.

Suddenly, the one of turbolift doors opened and 734 and Doctor Halsey stepped out onto the bridge. Commander Braxton didn't even notice them entering as he gave orders to his crew from engineering to tactical so that they were prepared for the Supreme Commander's arrival. After all, one does not simply great the highest ranking officer in all of Starfleet with a ship that is on the verge of a warp breach.

Halsey turned to 734, who was observing the whole ordeal with the Captain take place. "Tell me, what do you think of the Spartan IIs?"

734 was caught off-guard by her question. Did she want validation? Reassurance for what she had done? He could not give her either. Thus, he gave the most literal answer possible, "They are fine soldiers" was all he said.

Doctor Halsey didn't seem satisfied with his answer, but decided not to press it. Nevertheless, the continued the conversation and asked, "are you the leader of the Starfleet Commandos?"

"Yes," 734 replied, "I am the de facto leader of the Starfleet Commandos, as I do hold the highest rank among them"

"Then why weren't you leading the squad that initially stormed the bridge?" Halsey skeptically inquired.

Under the helmet, 734 was terrified, _She's onto me!_ He thought.

"Further, what did you tell that Q figure tell you when he was masquerading as Sam?"

734 couldn't keep this conversation up, he just couldn't. "Excuse me, but I have duties to attend to" he quickly said.

He then literally engaged his armor's interphase cloak and walked through the door off the bridge. _There's something going on with him_ Halsey thought, _and I am going to find out what…_

 **Cargohold A-4**

734 decloaked just outside of the cargohold where the Spartan IIs and now his squad has taken temporary residence aboard the ship. He didn't feel that great about being in close quarters with them. He felt that it would just increase the chance of him slipping up around them, however, during training he did successfully get through worse with flying colors.

The heavy bulkhead doors whooshed open as he entered the Cargohold. He scanned the room and only found one person occupying it. Kelly-087. She was cleaning her MA5C rifle outside the modular structure as he entered the room. She looked up at him and asked, "is there anything I can help you with?" in a somewhat snobby tone.

"Yes, have you seen Soren anywhere?" 734 replied.

"No, he is with his boyfriend Fred" Kelly sneered.

"You know about that?" 734 spoke.

"I caught them cuddling on the Shield world, you?"

"Huh, I was on a mission with him and we had to set up camp… I took guard while he slept, and he… well… dreamed of him"

734 could swear that Kelly cracked a bit of a smile. "I don't like it, last time a Spartan got _involved_ , he ended up paying for it."

"You mean what happened between S-117 and Corporal Arthur, correct?"

Kelly stiffened as she asked lowly, "How do you know about that?"

"Remember, Starfleet Commandos are more spies than Supersoldiers. We are deeply connected with Republic Starfleet Intelligence" he chuckled.

"117 was lucky he wasn't killed" Kelly huffed, "that Corporal going into a coma has caused him to become colder than he has ever been before."

"I see" 734 drifted off, "My condolences on your loss, by the way…"

"What?" Kelly asked confusedly, "What loss?"

734 gulped, _oh shit,_ he thought, _I have self-appointed myself to be the Spartan's Death Notifier_.

"ONI has listed John-117 as MIA" he said slowly.


	15. Getting Going

**_Hello all! I would first like to apologize for not updating earlier. Sorry, things happened. But, I hope that you noticed something about this monologue already. That's right, I am speaking freely and OOC. I have decided that the whole acting in character as Memory Theta during the author's notes can get cryptic and my message doesn't get across. So, as of now I will be my notes as myself, HOWEVER, all stories on the account will still be a part of the larger Memory Theta continuity._**

 ** _There is more though. I plan this chapter to be the last one of this story UNTIL I go through the older chapters and do the following things._**

 ** _1)_** **** ** _Fixing and/or improving grammatical issues wherever they may be_**

 ** _2)_** **** ** _Adjusting the formatting to match my later stories_**

 ** _3)_** **** ** _Filling plot holes_**

 ** _4)_** **** ** _Adding more detail and changing MINOR plot points to better suit the story and to clarify certain things_**

 ** _Now, I plan to have all of these things done over the next month. When they are done I will have a new chapter on standby so that you will be notified when the changes are complete. It will be completely up to you to read some of the older chapters after they are partially rewritten. As I said before, any changes done to the core plot will be minor at most._**

 ** _One final thing before I go, I know that a lot of people are reading this story from the statistics data Fanfiction gives me and I would like you to know that I, from the bottom of my heart, appreciate that you have read through my fanfiction. That being said, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to leave a comment (especially now during this period of transition), even if it's negative. Comments, even simply saying "hi" gives me a sense of determination to make and improve things beyond views. Do not misunderstand, I am not begging here, if you simply enjoy my fiction and wish to remain silent and go about your day; more power to you and again, thanks for reading this far._**

 **Chapter 15 – Getting Going**

 **USS** ** _Enterprise_** **NCC-1701-D**

 **Main Bridge**

For the past week nothing had changed… absolutely nothing. The _Enterprise_ and her crew were advised to watch from a lightyear away where the _Endurance_ had disappeared. The keyword was "advise", as the _Enterprise_ was still a Federation vessel and not a Republic one, thus, no one could formally order them to do anything.

Captain Picard sat at his post in contemplation. He had been in and out of the holodeck multiple times during this time, trying desperately to think of some kind of course of action. But, he could find none. As far as he was concerned, all leads on the whole "getting back to their galaxy" had dried up. The crew was getting quite restless as anyone with common sense would, especially Worf.

"Captain, we simply can't just sit here twiddling our thumbs. We must do something!" Worf growled.

The Captain simply looked up behind him to see Worf and nodded. "Mister La Forge and Engineering are researching alternative measures of getting home"

He knew that was an empty promise, the way that Geordi had looked at him when they exhausted the possibility of this gateway being a wormhole to their galaxy made even his confidence falter.

"Captain, we are receiving a priority one communique from a nearby Republic Starship… that appears to have just passed us at high warp" Worf informed as his console beeped.

The Captain stood up wearing an expression of somewhat relief and said: "I'll take it in my ready room" as he strode to his office.

Worf nodded and pressed a few buttons on his station; sending the transmission away from the bridge to be viewed by Captain's eyes only.

 **Captain's Ready Room**

Jean-Luc Picard sat in his chair. He opened his computer terminal like he would any other day to receive orders, except, this time he didn't have anyone to answer to. Sure, he still had to abide by Republic law while in their territory, but otherwise he was free to do what he wished with no one legally telling him what he could or couldn't do.

However, such a prospect wasn't alien to him. There've been countless times in which he had lost contact or simply couldn't efficiently communicate with Starfleet command, leaving him to alone judge what was best for the ship and its crew. This however felt… different to him.

Suddenly, the terminal powered on and opened the channel to Republic Starfleet. After a few moments, Daniel Flynn appeared on the screen in the same uniform that most Republic Starfleet officers wore. He was in a room not unlike Picard's ready room. Jean-Luc cleared his voice and straightened his posture as he remembered that this was the head of the entire Republic Starfleet. "Supreme Commander, what do I owe the pleasure?"

"You can dispense with the pleasantries Captain, I am quite lax in comparison to the rest of Starfleet Command" Daniel said, waving his hand dismissively, "I apologize for not getting back to you earlier, I was otherwise occupied."

Picard frowned and asked, "Have you found the _Endurance_?"

"Yes, surveillance probes detected it in UNSC space a few days ago. However, it was… hijacked. We took care of it" Daniel muttered.

"Was anyone hurt?" Picard asked.

"Thankfully, there were no casualties. Not even the assailant was really injured, however, the ship did sustain massive damage and has made contact with one of the major species of that Galaxy" Daniel said, "We also may have found the wormhole to your galaxy… however, considering what happened last time, we'll be sending probes through first before we get closer than a lightyear."

The Captain flashed a quick smile and replied, "I look forward to what comes out of this… however, sir, what are we supposed to do in the meantime?"

Daniel slumped in his chair and rubbed his forehead. "Truthfully Captain, I have no idea. You aren't a Republic ship… I can't just order you around without integrating you into the fleet, and, that would require your entire crew to take the Republic Starfleet General Exam… which is intended for 4th year cadets!"

"Not that I don't think they aren't up to the task" he added while leaning forward, "It's just that Republic and Federation Starfleet directives may be too different for you to simply skip training. I'll tell you what, I'll make the _Enterprise_ a provisional member of the fleet so that you may leave when you reestablish contact with the Federation."

The Captain liked this idea. No commitment to Republic Starfleet while at the same time forging diplomatic ties. Yes, they would be temporarily a part of the Republic's fleet and would have to take orders from the Republic, still, it wasn't like they were taking orders from the Romulans. "We accept" said the Captain.

Daniel slouched back into his chair and said, "Very well, I will make the necessary arrangements. I'm sending you on a priority one mission to accompany this ship, the RSS _Xenon,_ to the Caleb system. We have a very large Starbase facility there guarding the only known stable wormhole."

Alarm bells rang in Captain Picard's head when he mentioned a wormhole as they really haven't had a great experience with them over the past two weeks. "Are you certain that it is safe?" Picard asked.

Daniel's eyes softened as he said, "Captain, we have been sending ships through the Gamma Wormhole for over thirty-five years. We have run simulation after simulation as well as multiple probe runs. It's safe."

The Captain scratched his head as he had a realization, "You told me when we first met in this century that you had only discovered one wormhole which leads to the space of a government that kidnaps children to make soldiers."

"For the record, the UNSC's military force is not entirely comprised of augmented forces. Quite the opposite in fact. Less than one percent of their military, known as Spartan units, are augmented. The rest are just regular people," Daniel continued, "however, this among other heinous crimes were committed by UNSC's intelligence agency: The Office of Naval Intelligence or simply ONI. They have near complete autonomy and little oversight in UNSC jurisdiction. They act like the Stasi from the old German Democratic Republic, spying on everything and everyone while suppressing any threat to **_their_** raceme."

"Sounds like the Tal-Shiar from my home Galaxy" Picard mused.

The Supreme Commander frowned, "Captain, we are allies with the Romulan Star Empire in this Galaxy. I don't care about the current relationship between the Federation and the Romulans of Beta Galaxy, here, we are allies. I trust you won't create an international incident over some grudge."

Jean-Luc straightened his posture and replied, "Of course not, sir."

"Good, your orders are clear for now Captain. Get to the Caleb system at the maximum sustainable warp available. Flynn out."

With that, the transmission was cut and the Captain was left alone in his ready room. He got up out of his chair and headed out the door. The door whooshed open and he was on the bridge. "Helm, set course for the Caleb system, Warp 9, engage!"

The Captain looked up to his very confused Klingon tactical officer and tapped his combadge. "Conference, now."

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

 **Main Bridge**

Captain Braxton stood on his bridge with great angst. Not only was his ship in near ruins and was nose to nose with a five-kilometer-long Sangheili warship, but, he was also expecting the head of the Republic Starfleet. As well as a delegation of Sangheili in just under thirty minutes.

"Lore, how are our Sangheili guests doing?" Braxton asked.

The Android span around in his chair and said, "Security reports that the Sangheili are upset for lack of a better word. They all appear to be in good health and are not attempting escape. Nonetheless, security is at high alert and all personnel are still required to wear combat armor."

"Very good" Braxton replied, clasping his hands behind his back. "David, I want you to arrange for security to assemble the Sangheili in the main shuttlebay."

David nodded and walked off the bridge with no one replacing his station. Braxton sighed and walked up the slight ramp to the Tactical Station and pressed a few buttons, essentially taking his David's place.

 **Corridor J-12**

David, fully clad in Commando armor walked down the hallway, rifle in hand, with his security team flanking him. He made a left at the first intersection and saw the first of the trapped Sangheili. They immediately noticed him and his team and faced them. David approached the forcefield and activated his helmet's universal translator and spoke, "We have reached an agreement with your leader Thel 'Vadam. You are to come with us to the main shuttlebay for him to collect you."

The Elites gave a series of nods as David deactivated the forcefield. He motioned for them to move forward and they immediately complied, except for one. A gold zealot moved towards him and blocked his path. "Please move along, Zealot" David calmly asked.

"I know you" the alien spoke, "from the planet you call Reach…"

S-B312 stiffened as he heard that name. Reach. It had definitely struck a chord with him, given his next action.

"Move!" B312 yelled with malice and anger.

The Elite, knowing that he had pushed him to the limit, decided to get one final blow in before moving.

"Demon"

If he hadn't started to move that exact moment, David was sure that he would have killed him. The group of Elites were herded around the corridors until they reached the shuttlebay. After they entered the shuttlebay David said, "You will remain here until your leader collects you."

They all nodded in acknowledgement as David left the room. He made it to the door, but, before he fully stepped out, he stopped and turned around. He marched straight towards the Sangheili Zealot that confronted him earlier and threatened, "If you rear your disgusting face again, Veer, I will terminate you just as mercilessly as I did your entire team back on Reach."

Veer made a low growl as if he was dying inside just by the mention of what happened that day. "Is that a challenge, Nobel Six?"

"It is what you make of it, scumbag. You and your merry gang of Covenant killed everyone I loved. Burn in hell." B312 spat.

After a few second of glaring at each other, The ex-Spartan turned heel and headed out the door where his security team was waiting for him. "Let's not repeat what we just experienced" David said, "If they show any resistance after they have been informed of their situation, stun them and carry them to the shuttlebay. If there are any major problems, let me know. I have business to attend to."

 **Cargohold A-4**

Kelly just stood there like a statue, staring at 734. That is to be expected though, considering that he had just broke the news that her best friend had perished. "How" was all she asked after a minute.

"After Joh – I mean S-117 rescued Cortana from The Flood and defeated the Covenant, he managed to return to the frigate which brought him to the ring" 734 stuttered, "however, the portal which connected where the ring was to UNSC space collapsed, tearing the ship in half. He happened to be caught in the stern, which did not survive according to intelligence."

Kelly stood there again like a statue, apparently, unable to process the information she was given.

"If you would like I can send a copy of RSI1's report to you."

Still no response.

"I get onto that" 734 croaked as he headed for the door.

Truth be told, 734 had absolutely no idea how he was able to hold himself together during that conversation. He felt at any second his cover would break and end up being a sobbing mess on Kelly's lap. But, luckily for him and his pride, it held. _I can't afford to break cover_ 734 reminded himself, _I simply cannot face the UNSC again. I can't…_

As he trotted down the corridor to his thinking place aboard Galaxy class starships as he reflected on earlier times when life wasn't as complicated. When he was a Spartan.

 **Arboretum**

Soren and Fred ambled through the Arboretum's doors rather slowly for a Spartan. Both were wearing their armor with their helmets off and in their hands. Half-an-hour ago, someone in engineering finally got the time to repair Frederic's MJOLNIR armor. No one knows how he found said time, but, when Fred ambled through Engineering to take a look at his armor, it was completely repaired with a note saying, "enjoy". Fred noted the contrast between the stark, white, sterile walls and the lushes green grass and plants. "Do all Republic Starships have these?" Frederic asked.

"The _Endurance_ along with most of the Fleet are considered to be exploration ships. While we do equip our starships with state of the art weaponry and defenses, most starships are designed with Scientific research in mind more than going to war."

Fred nodded and stared at a lotus that was growing next to where he planted one of his feet. He looked back at Soren and looked at his midsection. Even through his thick armor, one could make out his muscle definition if they looked hard enough. He then looked at his codpiece; which Soren did notice.

Not saying anything, Soren stared at Fred who was inching closer to him. Soren felt as if his partner's blue eyes pierced his heart. Just as their lips were only a few centimeters away, Soren backed up and looked away. "Not here" he whispered as he saw a child splashing through the pond.

Fred nodded and looked away, "Then where?"

"I know a place, this way" was all Soren replied.

They immediately exited the Arboretum and headed down the hallway. Sparks flew as the crew attempted to fix all the damage caused by Daisy's little takeover. They made a turn at the next intersection, which led them to a dead end with an exposed service tunnel on the left wall. Soren then got on his hands and knees and crawled into the service tunnel with Fred following. Most of the lights in the service tunnels were either off or dimly flickering due to either a lack of power or just simply damage to the power conduits. To compensate, both Soren and Fred put their helmets on and turned on the helmets' night vision.

They reached a service intersection which looked exactly like the ones that they had crawled through earlier to retake the ship. However, instead of going up like they did before, they went straight through the intersection. After over five minutes of just crawling straight. They made it to another intersection, which actually had functioning lights in it. But, it didn't do much good as they just bypassed that one and moved through a lightly zigzag tunnel.

They managed to reach where their destination, a secluded maintenance cavity with no apparent purpose. Just an empty room in the middle of the ship which was only accessible by the service tunnels. Most likely, the designers of the Galaxy Class were going to put something here, but removed it late enough in development so that the echo of their original idea remained.

However, as secluded as the room may be, there was one problem with it for their purpose of being undisturbed.

They were not alone.

A Starfleet Commando in full combat armor just simply sat in the corner with his back against the wall and his legs fully extended out. His head was hung low and motionless and was either sleeping or in deep thought. Additionally, according to Soren's sensor logs, his armor was also completely powered off. As they entered the 15 cubic meter room, the Commando remained motionless, completely oblivious or indifferent about their presence. It was then when Fred noticed the numbers printed on his breastplate.

734.

"Psst" Fred whispered, "That's your commander."

Right as Soren was about to gesture for them to leave quietly, the other Commando's armor powered on with a slight hum and the illumination of his visor. He slowly looked up at Soren who he recognized instantly. But, when he cocked his head towards Fred. He visibly shivered at the sight of MJOLNIR armor for a split-second and then composed himself to say "yes?" In a calm tone.

"I deeply apologize for disturbing you, Sir, I thought this section was clear" Soren apologized.

Behind 734's helmet, his eyes softened, "No need to apologize, Lieutenant. I should have kept my proximity sensors online while I was… thinking. I've had a lot of things on my mind." He said, while slightly turning his head towards Fred.

"I'll get out of your way now," 734 said as he vanished out the service tunnels and into the darkness.

Fred and Soren looked at each other and took off their helmets.

Yes, it was a most interesting day indeed.


	16. First Contacts Part I

**_Hello again,_**

 ** _I have finished my cumulative sweep of the entire story and well… I never really realized how poor the overall style was at especially the beginning. I have also filled numerous inconsistences and plot holes. In addition to that, I added a fair amount of new detail to especially the beginning. Even though nothing has really changed plot-wise, so I would encourage everyone to check out some of the earlier chapters. Oh and one more thing… spellcheck galore! Yes, I should have been doing that all along… but, my Word processor literally doesn't have the word Tricorder in its dictionary, so I have to add words manually, and thus those red lines become meaningless after a while._**

 ** _Other than that, I have a few things to address before we start this next chapter. First, a Guest sent some feedback on the last chapter basically pointing out that because Daisy-023 "filled" the ship with ethanol vapor. Before I dive into this I would like to thank this Guest for leaving constructive criticism and helping me identify a weak point. I appreciate it._**

 ** _Now, this was my fault in the sense that I did describe Daisy "flooding" the ship with alcohol and never describing the amount. However, the actual amount of ethanol in the atmosphere at the time was about 0.1%. Now, most beers have around 4% alcohol content on average. If one was to hold a match to it, would it ignite? No. Because the alcohol (ethanol) content is too low. And, since the amount in the atmosphere relatively speaking was almost untraceable. However, consider… if you were inhaling really watered down bear for I don't know… 10 minutes, one breathes about 6 liters of air a minute at rest, so, long story short you would be absorbing about 1.5 L worth of beer, that's over 4 standard size cans for every 10 minutes they breathe the air. And, since they were breathing it for over thirty-five minutes… they on average had the equivalent of 5.25 L of beer or just under 15 cans of beer's worth of alcohol each… so you could see why Lore would want to rush to get the anti-intoxicant (which is fictional FYI) distributed._**

 ** _Anyway, that is all for right now. I am sorry for taking so long and for not checking over my work earlier… so to make it up I wrote a really long chapter. I just kept typing… and typing. Before I go, I would like to thank everyone again for reading this far. I would appreciate any further comments as we get into the real meat of the story in the next few chapters… yes, it is going to get really intense, believe me. But, for now, grab a beverage of your choosing, and enjoy this next chapter._**

 ** _Oh, and one more thing, this chapter combined with the new sections I have written throughout the story has tipped the word count over 50,000. Never thought I would make it this far and I thank everyone who has left a review thus far. Anyway, enjoy._**

 **Chapter 16 – First Contacts Part I**

 **USS** ** _Enterprise_** **NCC-1701-D**

 **Main Bridge**

The bridge was abuzz. Officers and crewmen alike scrambled to their stations after Captain Picard suddenly ordered his ships departure to the Caleb System near the Romulan boarder. Despite the fact that the Republic and the Star Empire of this galaxy were on good terms, the uneasiness they felt while travelling near the border was the same as any other time they had done it previously in their own galaxy.

"Captain, we are two minutes away from the Caleb System.

The tension on the bridge at this point was almost palpable. They were expecting a delegation of a species that were formally on a genocidal rampage against humanity of a different Galaxy. Which in turn experienced the attempted genocide of their race by the same humans they were sworn enemies with earlier. Confusing? That's not even the beginning.

Picard paced around on the bridge, he was not in the mood for surprises today… but, it would seem that he wouldn't be getting his wish for a completely smooth trip, although he did deserve it… after all, he was only three months ago captured and assimilated by the Borg.

After exactly two minutes of contemplation, Wesley reported, "Sir, we are dropping out of warp now!"

Picard sat down in his chair and said, "Good, let's get this over with."

From the bridge crew's perspective, the streams of light that idly went by as the ship traveled at FTL suddenly became the stars they always were. The system in question, the Caleb system was entering visual range. As they got closer, they could make out the individual planets and large stellar bodies. "Sir, it would appear that the _Xenon_ has disappeared." Worf said in a confused tone.

The Captain got up from his chair to look at Worf, "How is that possible?"

"Sir, it is known that the Republic employs cloaking technology aboard their vessels. Perhaps, they are cloaked" Data suggested.

"Yes, but why would they do that?" Captain Picard asked, before being cut off by his Klingon tactical officer.

"Sir, there appears to be a ship decloaking right off our bow" Worf warned.

Jean-Luc Picard was going to reassure the bridge crew that there was nothing to worry about, but, as the ship started to decloak, it was clear it was not a Republic ship. Once it fully decloaked, the crew's blood instinctually ran cold. For the ship before them was not after all a Republic ship, but, a fully armed Romulan D'deridex class warbird.

Picard's instinct, along with the majority of the bridge crew's instinct told him to go straight to Red Alert. However, given the current political situation they were in, he said, "Go to yellow alert."

"Sir, I recommend we go straight to Red Alert, Sir" Worf said.

"We will do no such thing. Counselor, what are you getting from the Romulans?" Picard asked as he turned to face her.

Dianna's brow furrowed as she concentrated on the Warbird. "It is hard to describe, they are trying to deceive us… but, not in the usual way."

"In what way?" The Captain questioned.

"It's like… they're testing us in some way…"

Picard looked back at the viewscreen in thought. Suddenly, the dots connected in his mind as he spoke, "They're testing us… testing us to see if we could be coaxed into attacking them."

He sat back down in his chair and commanded, "cancel Yellow Alert and hail the Warbird."

"Aye, Sir" Worf confirmed as he tapped a few buttons on his console.

Suddenly, the Romulan Commanding officer appeared on their viewscreen alongside a generous view of their bridge… which was never before seen by Federation eyes. **_"I am Commander S'Talon Rahaen'fvil of the IRW Adjacian. I am in command of this vessel."_**

"I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard, representing the United Fed… Republic of Plants" The Captain introduced.

 ** _"_** ** _Do not worry Captain, we are well aware of your origin. We apologize if we startled you."_** The Commander assured.

"Sir, there is another ship decloaking!" Worf warned again, "It's the _Xenon_!"

A few moments later, the viewscreen was split between a view of the _Adjacian_ and that of the _Xenon_. **_"I apologize for that Captain,"_** Daniel repeated, **_"Commander Rahaen'fvil and I decided it would be best to test your resolve before embarking on this next mission."_**

The crew of the _Enterprise_ seemed to be angered by this, but, decided collectively not to press it. "What is the mission, Sir?" Picard asked.

 ** _"_** ** _We are to initiate First Contact Procedure with the UEG of Gamma Galaxy, more commonly referred to as the UNSC… as well as provide support for the Endurance, who is currently stranded there"_** Daniel explained, **_"And before you ask, the Romulan Star Empire has been co-administering this wormhole in conjunction with the United Republic of Planets since we started sending the first probes through. So you can understand why they would wish for their interests to be represented."_**

"That is completely understandable, Sir," Picard said, "What will our role be?"

 ** _"_** ** _I understand that Federation Starfleet is slightly less militaristic than the Republic Starfleet. But, we are dealing with many unknowns here. If anything goes wrong and we need additional support, you will be called upon,"_** **Daniel** said.

"In what way?" Picard questioned, feeling somewhat anxious about the Supreme Commander's comments.

 ** _"_** ** _Captain, I will be frank with you. The reason we have mainly avoided the UNSC is not exclusively due to how we perceive ONI, but, also due to the fact that the racism is deeply embedded in their collective mindset. The entity that nearly caused their total annihilation was a multi-racial alien Covenant."_**

Picard pondered Daniel's words for a moment and let them sink in. If the Federation was in this position, what would they do? Fortunately, Picard's pondering was abruptly halted by his knowledge of Federation First Contact procedures; and what Daniel just described would be grounds to halt any attempts at contact and to place them strictly under observation. But, one question still remained in Picard's head that remained unanswered, "Why now?"

 ** _"_** ** _The Endurance, during its detour was forced to make contact with a group of stranded UNSC personnel."_** Daniel explained, **_"Captain, we do not have any more time to discuss this. You have your orders. Follow us to the Gamma Wormhole, and match our speed and course when we jump to warp once we arrive safely through the wormhole."_**

"Understood, Sir" Picard confirmed, "Picard out."

With that, the channel was closed and the bridge crew was left to stare at the exterior of both vessels. The _Xenon_ was a Galaxy Class ship. Its registry was RSRN-75000. Its design was slightly modified from the standard line of the Galaxy Class, featuring a second layer of phaser strips on its saucer section, as well as a torpedo launcher on the rim of the saucer.

Suddenly, the RSS _Xenon_ broke formation and headed for the wormhole. The warbird then signaled the _Enterprise_ to proceed. Captain Picard complied as he ordered the _Enterprise_ to match the _Xenon_ 's course and heading. Once the Romulan ship was clear, they proceeded to follow the lead ship with the Warbird following closely behind. Once they were at the mouth of the wormhole, they passed by a massive Starbase that was armed to the teeth. Which, gave them clearance as soon as they passed.

Unlike previous wormholes they have been through, the transition between entering the wormhole and appearing out the other side was near instantaneous. The other Galaxy looked so much different from the one that they knew, or even that of the Republic. Almost immediately, the RSS _Xenon_ jumped to warp and the Warbird started revving its warp drive as in saying _What the hell's the hold up!_

Picard sighed, "Mr. Crusher, match course and speed of the _Xenon_ "

Picard got back to his Captain's chair and while gesturing said, "Engage."

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

 **Main Hangarbay**

It was always disconcerting to make first contact with an alien race, let alone one who formally was hell-bent on your own species genocide. But, those were different humans. Right? I mean, they were of a different timeline… but does that make it any better? There was already a troop transport in the hangar from the Sangheili's first "expedition" aboard the _Endurance,_ so they have a means to get back once the Arbiter's delegation arrives.

Commander Braxton was well prepared though, with armored guards flanking him and one at every exit. Soren and the rest of the Starfleet Commandos were filling in for the guards that were supposed to posted to the ship, but, never got the time due to their sudden departure for the apparent "wormhole" to Beta Galaxy. As for the UNSC Spartans and other company, they were cooped up in their little cargohold until this situation with the Sangheili was dealt with. After all, no one wants to start an incident.

After a few moments of waiting, an ex-covenant phantom suddenly came into view from the hangar. Like most covenant designs, it was purple. Sub-Lieutenant David Zanders noted that every faction he had encountered seemed to adopt "their" color. The Romulan Star Empire loved the color green. The Federation, Republic, and the UNSC loved the color grey. And, the covenant seemed to love the color purple, the color of royalty.

The phantom entered the hangar through the forcefield that only was meant to keep the atmosphere in and the vacuum of space to keep out. It landed smoothly on the ground like a Republic or Federation shuttle and settled in place. After a few moments, a hissing sound was heard from the ship and the doors opened.

Two Sangheili emerged from the ship, including the Arbiter. Commander Braxton dismissed the guards flanking him so that they could take strategic points around the hangar if there was any trouble. "I am Commander Braxton: Captain or… Shipmaster of this vessel representing the United Republic of Planets."

"I am Thel 'Vadam, Kaidon of Sangheilios." Thel began, "This is the Shipmaster of the vessel that I came from, Rtas 'Vadum."

Braxton nodded and replied, "We are honored with your presence."

Thel bowed his head and then looked to his left, where all of his men were assembled and guarded by both Starfleet Commandos and standard ship security. "I will talk with my men… THEN we will talk" Thel stated.

"Of course" the Captain replied while using gesturing to invite them to talk to his men.

Thel 'Vadam and his Shipmaster trotted off to his men and started to speak Sangheili to them. They had a fierce conversation, but, after a few moments things seemed to calm down as he ordered him on the transport they came in. He turned to face the Captain and walked towards him with Rtas. "Shipmaster, you have my thanks for safely returning my men. I am willing to start talks." Thel said in an uncharacteristically warm tone for a Sangheili.

"Very good, would you and your Shipmaster care to accompany me to the Observation Lounge?" Braxton asked, "Or, you know what… could we discuss matters here? The ship is in complete disarray… the turbolifts are down, and I had to take a series of service tunnels from the bridge to get here.

"Very well" Thel replied, gesturing for Rtas to come along to where the Captain was leading them to a small table that seemed freshly prepared considering the circumstances.

Rtas, unlike Thel, sported a white combat harness with blue accents. According to the intelligence, this is a far more standard design among former covenant soldiers, although, due to his title, the harness can take far more punishment than that of a frontline soldier.

"As a fellow Shipmaster, I am quite curious to know what could cause such internal damage to your ship. From the outside, the _Endurance_ appears to be almost spotless!" Rtas said.

The Captain sat down at the table he ordered to be replicated only moments before the Sangheili arriving. It was quite long, although plain. "When your warriors first arrived, the ship was actually hijacked by an assailant that managed to filter various drugs into the atmosphere, which caused the crew, myself included to lose their judgement. Someone in their stupor overloaded the central power grid, which, in turn, caused severe damage to most ship systems among other things."

"Ah, so this is the reason you sent us a picture of your middle finger?" Thel genuinely asked.

The Captain slightly blushed and said, "I was not in my right mind, I apologize. However, a few members of my crew who were not affected managed to get the chemicals out of the air… allowing us to well… survive."

Thel took a double take of the ships hangar and commented, "This ship's design, damaged or not, is unlike anything humanity has ever developed before. There are things here that even the covenant had failed to master. Even the vessel you call _Infinity_ does not have some of the technology used here. Please send my congratulations to Fleet Master Hood on his efforts."

Braxton's face fell at the mention of the UNSC's Fleet Admiral in relation to them, and was about to interrupt when Thel continued, "Despite the detractors, we are committed to peaceful relations with your race, Braxton."

"Kaidon, you must understand that we are not currently affiliated with the UNSC or the humans you fought during the Covenant war" Braxton said slowly, "I represent the United Republic of Planets, an interstellar federal Republic of over 150 member states, including numerous more colonies of said states."

Everything then suddenly seem to click in both of the Sangheilis' minds. The differing design of the _Endurance_ , the contrast in uniforms between the UNSC and these people, even their insignia. Thel also noted that they were far less militaristic

"Where do you come from?" Rtas questioned, "What is it that you seek?"

Commander Braxton reached to grab a PADD from a nearby shelf and pressed a few buttons. After a few seconds, a map of Alpha Galaxy appeared on the PADD. Then, he turned the PADD upside-down in his hand and handed it to the former Arbiter.

"You come from a… different galaxy?" The Arbiter said shockingly.

"That is correct" Braxton stated as he got up out of his chair. "Our only intention in this galaxy is to explore and to make peaceful relations with other races and governments, including yours. Although, the _Endurance_ did not ever intend to be in this galaxy; at least, on this mission."

Thel pondered the Commander's words for a few moments before asking, "How did you get here?"

"There is a wormhole a few parsecs away that leads to our galaxy. We aren't able the share the location with you unfortunately… I do not have the authority to do so, however, once we return to our galaxy, I am confident that we could open formal relations with the Swords of Sangheilios."

As the Commander and the two Sangheili talked, the Phantom that carried the Arbiter's boarding party started to take off with its crew. The engines powered up and the ship started to hover away, with a quite distracting noise which interrupted the Commander and Thel's talks. It was funny however, to see such a historically proud race just take off like this in shame.

Thel nodded, but, something seemed off to him, something about that last statement. It dawned on him, _how could they know the name of their faction if this is there first encounter with this galaxy?_

"How do you know the name of our faction, Shipmaster?" Thel questioned.

Commander Theodore Braxton cracked a smile and replied, "Kaidon, this is not our first visit to this galaxy. We have been observing this galaxy for a while now… we have a strict policy of non-interference. And, technically, we should still be in the shadows. However, recent events have made such a thing impossible, and, there are rumors of the upper echelons of Starfleet Command re-evaluating their involvement in this galaxy. I am confident after this meeting today I can fully convince them to open the wormhole to all and for formal relations to exist between all parties."

Thel nodded, and turned to his Shipmaster. "How are you going to get home? This ship, based on what we have seen is a complete wreck! We could lend some of our engineers- "

"That's quite alright, we have a rescue ship coming to assist us already who has the proper tools and equipment to get us home" Braxton assured.

Thel nodded and got up out of the chair provided for him. "Hopefully, we can meet with your delegation soon. Fair warning though, if you cannot get along with the UNSC, things will be more… difficult between our two peoples."

"I'll keep that in mind"

"Good," Thel said curtly, "I will now return to my ship. Farewell."

With that, Thel and Rtas made their way towards their Phantom. Braxton found the remark about getting along with the UNSC quite ominous. No, they don't possess a massive threat to the Republic if they become hostile, but, it just doesn't _feel_ good to make enemies like that. Once the Elites cleared the hangar, the Captain of the _Endurance_ sighed and exited the room.

Braxton made it a few meters down the corridor until he reached a collapsed section. He rolled his eyes and found entrance to the service tunnel system and peered down the tube. It was pitch black. So, he found an emergency kit on the opposite wall and grabbed what used to be called a "flashlight."

Turning the device on, he moved down the otherwise dark tube. It was quite shameful for a Captain to be in-charge of such a wreck. The ship seemed… dead to him, like a corpse. It didn't have that feeling of life that a Republic starship normally has, instead, it felt melancholic and miserable. And, somehow, the Commander innately knew that she was going to be put out of her misery sometime.

Soon after, Theodore reached a junction to take a breather. He was about to get moving again, but, he heard a thumping sound from a one of the tubes. A light shone through the tunnel like a car's headlights, which, temporarily blinded the Commander. Suddenly, a Starfleet officer in their standard uniform emerged from the tunnel. "Commander, is that you? I'm sorry if I blinded you."

Braxton recognized that voice as belonging to Sub-Lieutenant Carmen Dyck, the _Endurance_ 's temporary chief engineer that was only supposed to keep the post for that one mission escorting the _Enterprise_. She had been making herself quite scarce over the past day as she struggled to keep the ship even barely running and madly repairing system after system. And the sad part is? She hasn't been able to do a sixth of what is required.

"Ah, Sub-Lieutenant. It is alright, but, I need to have a full technical report on the ship's current condition in one hour, the 'Senior Staff' will have conference then in order to plan our next moves." Braxton said.

"I'll get right to it sir, but, in a nutshell, the ship is screwed. Only emergency backup systems, the computer cores and the few systems I have fixed are operational, everything else is dead."

"Save it for the report Ms. Dyck, you have your work cut out for you." Braxton said with haste as he started to climb upwards on a ladder.

"Aye, Sir."

As the Acting Chief Engineer climbed into another tunnel back down to engineering, Commander Braxton continued to climb upwards. If he remembered correctly, this tunnel would take him directly to Deck 1. According to Lore, this was also the same way that the team that retook the bridge took.

He made it to the final intersection and crawled out of the cramped tunnel system and onto the bridge deck. A few steps later, and he was officially back on the bridge. And, at first glance, things weren't going any better up here than they were downstairs. The carpet was completely scorched, lights were hanging from their cords, and the glass "sunroof" on the bridge was completely shattered, only being replaced by a temporary forcefield.

"Report!" Braxton barked.

Lore turned around in his chair and said, "The _Shadow of Intent_ has left Sir. However, we really don't know how due to a lack of sensor control. The RSS _Xenon_ is just under thirty-minutes away at high-warp. It is being accompanied by the USS _Enterprise_ and the IRW _Adjacian._ "

Braxton raised a brow, "How did the _Enterprise_ join the fleet?"

"According to the Republic Database, the _Enterprise_ has now been listed as a 'provisional member of the fleet', and is under the authority of the Supreme Commander." Lore said, "Their mission appears to not only be to rescue us, but to make contact with the UNSC…"

"What?" Braxton sputtered. He was more surprised at the news of First Contact with the UNSC.

"It's confirmed sir, Starfleet is to make First Contact with the United Earth of Galaxy Gamma and the wormhole is to be opened to all, not just authorized vessels."

 **UNSC** ** _Infinity_** **INF-101**

 **Main Bridge**

The _Infinity_ 's bridge, like most UNSC starships was dark and gloomy. Although, there was always enough light to see what you were doing. But, it always added an artificial feel to things. And, for someone like Commander Thomas Lasky, whose Job typically entails for him to stand on the bridge all day, made things ever more depressing.

"Aine, what is our current ETA?" the First Officer asked the ship's AI while he pensively stared into slipspace.

"This slipspace jump should complete in just under five minutes, Sir." Aine droned.

Lasky nodded and clasped his hands behind his back. It was quite awkward really, being the First Officer of a ship that didn't officially exist. Yes, it would eventually be in a few years' time… but still!

An ONI satellite had detected an unidentified ship on the edge of UNSC space two days ago, which, ONI believed to either be a new prototype Covenant warship, or simply a Forerunner ship that was hijacked by Covenant loyalists. Either way, the threat had to be neutralized. The area where it was detected would be in striking distance between five UEG colonies, which could not be permitted and though Lasky doubted that the ship would be in the same spot, he had found that tracing something step by step is the best way to go. But hey, he wasn't the Captain, and didn't make any of the big decisions.

After four minutes of just staring into slipspace he said over the internal communications system, "Captain Del Rio, please report to the bridge as we are exiting slipspace."

 ** _"_** ** _On my way"_** Del Rio replied.

A few moments later, the ship automatically exited slipspace into a seemingly insignificant part of space. There was no star system, not even an asteroid. However, there was one thing of interest. Captain Del Rio stepped onto the bridge and stood beside his first officer.

"Report!" He barked.

"Scanning Sir" a Bridge officer said.

After only a moment of waiting the officer reported, "Sir, there is nothing in this system except for an unknown Starship that is slightly larger than a Strident Class frigate."

"Let's see it" the Captain ordered as he and Lasky walked towards the holotable.

Suddenly, as they arrived, the ship in question appeared in a rough holographic form with no texture to it. The ship had a very defined saucer section, with what appeared to be its engine below it on a secondary hull.

"What is your tactical analysis, Aine?" the Captain asked.

The shipboard AI suddenly appeared on the holotable, "The ship's hull is made of an alloy that is like that we saw used in the Halo Array by the Forerunners, sir. Scans cannot accurately penetrate their hull as a result sir, but, once the Forerunner sensors are fully adapted to this ship I suspect we will be able to."

"We don't have time for that, Aine, are there any life readings?" Lasky asked swiftly.

"There is definitely life aboard, but, I cannot ascertain how many individuals are aboard nor can I identify their race." Aine replied.

Del Rio clasped his hands behind his back and turned away from the holotable. "This area of space, no matter how insignificant it may seem, is within striking distance between five UEG colonies."

"Hail them" Del Rio ordered.

After a few moments Aine droned, "No reply. Sir, more detailed scans reveal trace particles from a slipspace rupture earlier today from a Covenant Slipspace drive."

Del Rio eyes bulged and commanded, "It's a trap! Charge MACs and target the Alien vessel. Fire at my command!"

Lasky's face, along with the majority of the crews' contorted into that of surprise. "Sir, they may be friendly- "

"Commander, I would love to go over there and have tea… I really would" Del Rio sarcastically said, "But, considering the information that we have just been provided. It is better to be safe than sorry. Besides, it isn't like this thing is a human vessel?"

"Sir, it's a possibility that there may be humans aboard, we should send a boarding party!" Lasky protested.

The Captain remained silent and apparently ignored his First Officer. After a few moments he straightened his uniform and spoke one word.

"Fire."


	17. First Contacts Part II

**Chapter 17 – First Contacts Part II**

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

 **Main Bridge**

Commander Braxton sat in his command chair with a PADD, reviewing the full technical report he requested from the chief engineer an hour ago. Turbolifts, the majority of the replicators, and the other five reactor cores are beyond repair as far as they were concerned. The Warp Core had micro fractures all over it, and any attempt to restart it would result in an almost immediate breach. Further, the anti-matter containment modules were damaged and thus automatically ejected into space, so, even if they wanted to restart the Core, it would be physically impossible. Of course, all of this could be fixed at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, but of course, they have no way of getting there without FTL. However, there was some good news. Impulse engines were completely operational, with only the measly power output of a single fusion reactor (relatively speaking) being its limit.

The Commander looked at the top of the PADD's interface to see the time. 21:05. _Darn, is it that late?_ he thought.

He pressed a button on his chair to open a, internal ship wide channel and said clearly, "All senior staff… conference in five minutes."

Braxton slouched back in his chair in depression. _This is an intolerable situation_.

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

 **Observation Lounge**

Surprisingly, the Observation lounge was barely damaged by what the ship had been through. There were only minor cracks in the windows.

The Senior staff sat at the table in their comfy chairs. The Commander at the last second decided to invite their guests from the UNSC, which all sat on the other side of the table to where the Republic staff were. Kelly seemed somewhat agitated while the rest just seemed to be confused.

"As most of you know, the damage to this ship, given the size of our crew, is almost completely beyond repair. If we didn't have ships coming to aid us, I would have abandoned ship by now… The good news is we have impulse drive, thanks to the efforts of our Acting-Chief Engineer Ms. Dyck."

"Sir, the defector dish is completely fried as well as our sensor array. We are running on secondary… sometimes third backup systems… and these backup systems are a fraction as efficient as their primary counterparts." Sub-Lieutenant Dyck complained.

The rest of the Senior Staff bowed their heads in frustration as Braxton announced, "This is an intolerable situation."

"How the hell did this exactly happen?" Mendez asked wearily.

"Our current theory is an unidentified person that was in Engineering under the influence of the Ethanol vapor overloaded the ship's central power grid" Lore said.

Mendez frowned and replied, "Son, in the UNSC we have things called breakers and fuses. Now, you mean to tell me that the all mighty Republic of Planets cannot even invent a simple switch?"

Lore turned towards the older UNSC NCO and replied, "That is the issue. There are four independent safety protocols to prevent such a thing from happing. Not once on a Starfleet vessel has this ever happened. In fact, the only recorded incident similar to this was on a human freighter named: _Freemann_ in 2155-"

"I think he's heard enough" 734 suggested.

Lore paused and then nodded, slumping back into his seat.

"At the moment, this isn't relevant-" Commander Braxton started.

Abruptly, a Starfleet officer came bursting through the door and said, "Sir, a massive ship has exited slipspace right off our nose!"

Braxton quickly looked back to his senior staff, and gestured for them to come along. It was almost surreal what had happened to them over the past few days, surely it couldn't get any worse… right?

Braxton stepped onto the bridge and was awestruck. For on the viewscreen was something he had never thought he would see. 734 stepped onto the bridge behind the Commander and simply said, " _Infinity_ ".

Braxton turned back to face 734 who had since folded his arms in a distinctly defensive posture. "Enlighten me" Braxton ordered.

"UNSC _Infinity_. The first ship of its class. It is the most advanced Starship the UNSC has ever built. It is fitted with experimentally reverse-engineered Forerunner technology" Lore droned as he stepped onto the bridge.

"Hail them" Braxton commanded.

Lieutenant David Zanders returned to his station and pressed a few buttons. Soon after, he furrowed his brows and grumbled, "Our primary communications array was completely fried during the malfunction and our backup array is incapable of operating on UNSC frequencies."

At that moment, Doctor Halsey along with her Spartans stepped onto the bridge to see what the Republic crew were up to. The moment that she glanced at the viewscreen, a Sub-Lieutenant at the helm spoke as he pointed to a bright blue dot that suddenly appeared on the Infinity's hull, "What the hell is that!"

Halsey's eyes focused on the dot and its position on the hull. Suddenly, her face turned completely pale. "Oh no."

Braxton turned to her and said in a concerned tone, "What's wrong?"

Halsey pointed to the dot on the screen, but at this point, multiple blue dots spotted _Infinity_ 's hull. 734 looked to where she was pointing and screamed, "HIT THE DECK!"

But, it was too late. The _Infinity_ 's MAC canons were already charged before anyone other than the Spartans and the Android could process what 734 said. The occupants of the bridge were hurled across the room as the ship took the first blow. Sparks flew from almost every crevice. Then again, and again.

The lights flickered for a few moments and finally went out. Not even emergency lighting kicked in like last time. They were completely in darkness save for the sparks caused by the hull being so warped.

Struggling to get to his feet, Braxton yelled, "DAMAGE REPORT!"

David got to his station and simply said, "Everything… everything is dead, comms, sensors, everything!"

The ship's hull made a deafening screech as crew was rocked again for the final time. It felt like literally everything around them was crumbling, hull and all. It was at this time, under these circumstances did Commander Braxton of the Republic Starfleet ship _Endurance_ utter the words: "Abandon ship"

"ALL HANDS ABANDON SHIP!" Braxton repeated over his combadge which was pretty much the only thing that worked.

The bridge crew got to their feet and carried out the order. Braxton hurried to his Ready Room and quickly got suited in his standard issue combat armor. Just in case they encountered any hull breaches on the way.

"Where are the escape pods?" Kelly asked.

Lore grabbed a flashlight from under the Command Chair and replied, "Deck Two, Subsection A-4"

Behind her helmet, Kelly gave Lore a confused look, but before she could say anything else, Soren jumped in and said, "I'll lead you there, the crew knows the emergency procedures already."

Soren then turned to the Doctor. "We'll first get you to an equipment locker to get you a suit, we wouldn't want you to go through the same experience he did" Soren smirked as he nodded his helmet in 734's direction, earning him a glare from behind the taller commando's helmet.

"Soren, we don't have time for that. If we encounter a vacuum… cover her mouth" Braxton huffed.

"What about Mendez-" Lore asked before getting cut off by an implosion a deck below.

"We have to go NOW!" 734 bellowed.

Braxton looked at the rest of the crew and said, "734, I need to have a word with you. As for the rest of you… carry out your orders!"

Commander Braxton got a series of nods before the bridge crew almost instantly vacated the bridge. After a few moments, he along with 734 were the only ones still on the bridge. One would think the atmosphere would be somewhat tense. But, surprisingly, that was not the case. One could better describe it as… somber… depressed.

"I am no fool" Braxton started, "based on how violently those canons shook the ship… I'd say that more than half of the crew are already dead…"

"Sir, I-" 734 attempted to interject, but, Theodore ignored him.

"And, probably… many more will die in the next few moments"

Theodore sighed and sat in his chair in the center of the bridge. Behind his helmet, a lone tear streamed down his face. "I failed, Sa… 734. I..." he choked on his words, "failed everyone. It wasn't supposed to end this way."

Another small implosion rocked the ship slightly.

"I know this is the tired old cliché of Captains since the days of wooden sailing ships… but, I intend to go down with the _Endurance_ in whatever way she chooses to go" Braxton lamented, "I should've done this earlier, I should have abandoned ship the second that we realized all her systems went to shit."

734 just stood there, quietly listening to the old man's final rant. Under his helmet, a flash of recollection washed over his face as he listened.

"Heh. I guess this is it then…" Braxton paused, before finally he finally said. "My final order for you is to save yourself… interpret that in whatever way you wish."

He hung his head low and put his hands over his face. It was at that moment that 734 saw a side of the Commander that probably no one had ever seen before. Broken. Alone and afraid without purpose. It vaguely reminded him of how his former self died. In fact, this whole situation was so similar.

As the commando turned to leave, Braxton uttered one final statement under his breath: "I'm sorry."

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **RSRN-1702-D**

 **Deck 2, Subsection A-4**

734 sprinted down the corridor at an inhuman speed towards the escape pods. The corridor itself was wrecked like all the others before. However, like the bridge, everything -lights, computer terminals- were completely dead. The only reason he could see anything was because of his helmet's night vision. All the officers that happened to be out of armor were, without help, hopelessly lost.

As 734 approached closer to the escape pods, he realized that there was a mass of people collecting in the corridors. After a few seconds it became clear to him what was going on. There was an issue with the pods. He made his way through the crowd in absolute darkness to find someone who knew what the hell was going on.

Finally, the crowd began to clear as he made his way to the escape pod bay. He highly doubted that they'd run out of pods, simply because a Galaxy Class ship carries enough escape pods and shuttles to evacuate just under 15,000 people. Even though the ship's crew compliment was only 1,016 people (343 for a skeleton crew).

As he entered the escape pod bay, he found the Acting Chief Engineer, Carmen Dyck, working under one of the terminals with a hyperspanner. Pulling rank, he stepped past the guards who were bouncing crew members back so that the engineer who was working could have some space.

"What the HELL did I say before, I NEED SPACE TO WORK!" Carmen screeched after she saw 734's leg beside her.

734 was rather surprised that a Sub-Lieutenant in an Acting position would speak to him in such a manner. It was out of character. He looked up and around the area around him. His team of commandos were lined up near one of the corners of the room, while, the UNSC personnel were in another corner with Soren. There was not another single engineer to be found. "Sub-Lieutenant, what is going on?"

Carmen's body twitched for a brief second as she realized who she was talking to earlier. In an apparently completely reflexive way, she attempted to get up to face 734. However, she just ended up banging her head against the bottom of the terminal she was working on.

"Gah!" she moaned, "that's gonna hurt for a while."

She shook her head and got out from under the terminal and stood up 'straight' to face the Senior Lieutenant. "Sir, I had no idea it was-"

"Relax, just tell me what's the situation" 734 calmly said.

"Sir…" Her voice waivered, "that ship blew three massive holes through the Stardrive Section and grazed the top of the Saucer Section. My entire staff are gone."

"Gone?" 734 repeated, "the entire engineering staff?"

Tears started to flow down the junior officer's face as she spoke, "Yes, Sir. I assembled every engineer in main engineering so that we could regroup and discuss how we could somehow get this ship up and running again. I left them to check something in one of the service tunnels, but, while I was down there, the first shot was fired and... well, I wasn't hit, but by the time I realized what was happening, there was a massive hole where main engineering was."

Carmen started to break down into tears, and 734 placed a hand on her. "It's alright, it's not your fault."

"Forty-five people…" she sobbed.

"Sorry to break up the pity party, but, any second now the superstructure will collapse and we'll all fucking die!" A snobby Lieutenant right outside the door called out.

734 turned to reprimand him, but, Carmen grabbed his arm and said, "He's right. I'm almost done rerouting power to this section so we can launch the pods."

Carmen held back the rest of her tears as she crawled back underneath the terminal and did a few quick adjustments. She was apparently using a power cell from a type-II phaser to power the escape pod launching mechanisms. Not a bad plan all things considered, 734 had to admit.

Letting her finish her work, 734 walked over to where his team was at. They were dead silent in their observation of the situation around them.

 ** _"_** ** _Sir, I don't think I have ever encountered such a complex social encounter like this before"_** T'Men stated over a private channel.

 ** _"_** ** _How so?"_** 734 replied.

 ** _"_** ** _Well, Sir, we have a first contact scenario with a group of people we have had under constant surveillance for years. The same group which just attacked the Endurance. Then, factor in Soren's relationship with Frederic-104. After which, factor David's role in all this and, to as you humans say 'add icing on the cake' the fact that representatives from both the Republic, Romulan Star Empire and Federation will be arriving in just over twenty minutes. I think it was a most logical idea to keep your identity secret during these times."_**

 ** _"_** ** _Heh, well, I'm just thankful that everyone else got what I was doing and elected to not refer to me by name"_** 734 chuckled.

A loud rumbling sound filled the room as dust fell from the ceiling. Leaving very uneasy looks on the remaining crew's faces.

After a few more moments, a loud zap was heard from the terminal and the lights in the escape-pod bay were dimly lit. Carmen wiggled her way out from under the terminal proclaimed with a wide grin, "I fixed it!"

"Good work" 734 congratulated, "okay everyone, you know the drill. Single file, no budging."

The security guards who were previously guarding the entrance stepped aside as crew members flooded the room getting into escape pods. Soren practically had to drag Doctor Halsey through the crowd of crew members desperate for a window seat. He led the UNSC personnel to their own pods and instructed them to sit down. After they were all settled in, Soren swiftly ran over to where 734 was directing the mass of crew members. **_"Until we meet again"_** Soren said, saluting him.

734 briefly turned to face Soren and did something completely out of the blue. He swiped his fingers across his faceplate. He gave Soren-066 a Spartan smile.

Instantly, Soren returned it and made his way back to the pod. Unbeknownst to him, Kelly was watching. He ordered an inferior officer to pilot the pod with the Spartan-IIIs, while he piloted the pod with the Spartan-IIs, Halsey and Mendez.

As he made his way to the pod, he could see Kelly murmuring something to Halsey. Although, he didn't particularly pay attention for obvious reasons. He stepped into the very cramped pod and asked, "is everyone green?"

"Affirmative" They stated.

"Good" Soren said as he sat in the pilot's chair which was, simply put, much more comfortable than the bench seats that lined the sides of the cylinder that Starfleet called an "Escape Pod."

Soren pressed a few buttons and said, "All systems are green. Launch tube is clear. Engaging thrusters."

Soren pressed the final set of buttons and the airlock suddenly snapped shut. The thrusters automatically engaged and a massive roar was heard because of it. However, due to the pod's inertial dampeners, no one were tossed around.

After only about half a second, they completely exited the _Endurance_ 's hull and were exposed to open space, revealing the ship that was responsible for this.

"I have radio contact with _Infinity_!" Fred announced.

 **UNSC** ** _Infinity_** **INF-01**

 **Main Bridge**

"Sir? Sir!" A voice called.

Captain Del Rio snapped out of his daze and focused on where the voice came from.

"Sir, we've fired three MAC rounds at the target and well…" Laskey trailed off.

The Captain refocused his eyes on the small ship. There were two gaping holes that went right through from hull to hull. The other round just grazed the top of the more circular part of the ship.

"Life signs?" Del Rio asked.

"Yes Sir, we are still reading life signs."

Andrew Del Rio furrowed his brow in contemplation on how to deal with this situation. Does he order another volley? Does he send a boarding party?

Suddenly, the doors near the back of the bridge opened. The woman who had stepped onto the bridge could intimidate even the highest ranking of officers. Her reputation preceded her more than anything else. Cross her and, well, say goodbye.

"Admiral Parangosky," Del Rio greeted, "Is there anything I can do ma'am?"

The frail woman scanned the bridge with her ice cold eyes and said, "I was wondering why I was awoken from my sleep by the firing of MAC cannons."

She looked past the Captain to see what the target was. The second she laid eyes upon the wrecked, mangled ship, her mouth contorted into a frown. "Captain, why did you fire on that ship?"

Del Rio struggled for words for a brief moment, but ended up sputtering, "I felt it posed a threat!"

Parangosky was without words. _What an IDIOT,_ she mentally raged, _why is it that I am surrounded by these morons! It seems the only people who can get things done around here are Spartans! And, most of them are dead!_

But, nevertheless, she forced a smile (just to inspire confidence) and just stared at the ship.

 ** _"_** ** _Sir, we have an incoming signal originating from the wreckage"_** Aine droned.

Parangosky was intrigued and gestured to Del Rio to respond.

He cleared his throat and said, "put it through."

 ** _"_** ** _Mayday, mayday! This is UNSC Lieutenant Junior Grade Sierra-104. Prioritization code: Victor 7–2-Sierra-104. Hold your fire!"_**

"We read you S-104, this is Captain Del Rio of _Infinity,_ what is the situation?" Captain Del Rio asked with a hint of anxiety.

 ** _"_** ** _Sir, hold your fire! The ship that you fired on, the Endurance, was friendly. They rescued Blue Team along with the Spartan-IIIs from a secluded Forerunner Shield World"_**

Parangosky glared even harder at Del Rio when she almost mockingly repeated, "It posed a threat."

Del Rio swallowed loudly and started speaking to his first officer when the CINCONI said, "Oh no. You aren't screwing up again on my watch. You have failed me for the last time, Captain."

"Please Admiral, allow me to clean-"

"Commander Lasky, have Captain Osman coordinate a rescue mission to collect the survivors from that ship. She will be free to use any resources needed. We don't need to make this situation any worse. You are in command now, Captain Lasky" Parangosky said as she gestured to a nearby Spartan-IV to seize Captain Del Rio. "As for you, Andrew. I am sure High Command will have a lot of questions for you. For now, I am placing you under arrest for gross negligence. Take him away!"

Captain Del Rio struggled, but, eventually completely gave in as he was dragged off the bridge.

Lasky froze for a few moments, but carried out his orders nonetheless. Rumors are scary, yes. It was the reason why he was scared of the CINCONI. But, to see it in happening right in front of you in real life is, frankly, terrifying. Knowing that if he were to screw up in a similar manner, the same would happen to him.

 **RSS** ** _Endurance_** **Escape Pod 520**

The pod was silent after Fred closed the channel to the _Infinity_. No one else could hear what _Infinity_ was saying except to Fred, who was talking to them. In Soren's opinion, whoever was in command was in for at least a court martial. The UNSC may be at times rash, but, they weren't complete barbarians.

"So Soren, I guess you aren't too thrilled about returning to the fold" Mendez observed, "Hell, I don't envy your position right now, son."

Soren just slightly cocked his helmet to the side and replied, "believe me Chief, we're trained to be in far worse."

"Are you referring to Commandos or Spartans?" Mendez inquired.

"While the Starfleet Commando II program may be in the weight class as the Spartan II program, a commando and a Spartan are on average two very different animals." Soren replied.

"Go on" Halsey pressed.

Soren chuckled and swiveled his chair toward the passengers. "I would love to boast about our abilities, but, considering that would be ONI's wet dream… I would suggest you drop the topic before I start giving you false information."

Soren swiveled back to face the _Infinity_ , when he added, "To honestly answer your question, Chief, it will be exceptionally awkward considering that you'll be the first person to tell ONI all about me. Although, it isn't doom and gloom. The URP is going to initiate first contact anyway, and to be blunt, the UEG isn't exactly on good diplomatic footing right now."

Mendez sat back in his cramped bench seat beside Kelly and Halsey. It wasn't exactly pleasant for either of them to be crammed into a small, cylindrical escape pod with four augmented Supersoldiers. Though, to be fair, the escape pod was rated to fit a maximum eight people safely, so, it wasn't like they were breaking any rules, right?

The pod was silent for a few moments longer, until Halsey broke the silence when she said, "So, Soren, you and 734 seem to be close?"

Soren remained silent for a few moments when Halsey spoke again, "It even seems that you taught him the Spartan Smile."

Soren froze. _How the hell did she...?_

The Commando swiveled around again in his chair. "Ma'am, I believe David-B312 taught him that gesture."

"Ah I see." Halsey hummed.

Soren saw it. She was scheming. The look on her face absolutely petrified him as she said, "That still doesn't change the fact that you appear to be incredibly close with him. A romantic interest, perhaps?"

This very statement set of a chain of events that well… pretty much laid everything out in front of the Doctor.

Frederic stiffened, Kelly, snapped her gaze at Soren while Linda confusedly looked around trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Seeing what had just happened, Soren dropped his head and held his hands over his visor and simply groaned at his lover's stupidity.

"Ah, now I understand," Halsey stated with a victorious grin on her face.


	18. Of Spartans and Spooks

**Chapter 18 – of Spartans and Spooks**

 **RSS _Endurance_ RSRN-1702-D**

 **Main Escape Pod Bay**

"I do not understand," Lore paused, "what do you mean Commander Braxton opted to stay?"

Only two beings were still present in the Escape Pod Bay, Lore and 734. The rest… the minority that had survived the _Infinity_ 's assault had already evacuated. The hull made a near constant groaning sound as parts of the _Endurance_ 's superstructure began to fail due to the massive holes created by _Infinity_ right through the _Endurance._

"She did not even have power" Lore mumbled.

"Sir?" 734 replied in a slightly confused tone.

"I just… never anticipated that the _Endurance_ would be destroyed in such a fashion" Lore remarked, "A Galaxy Class starship… gone like this?"

"Yes Sir, I agree" 734 lamented.

Lore looked around the room for a moment, apparently just to take it all in. "Senior Lieutenant, even though we are both of the same rank, I feel that I am morally obligated to formally release you from my command and-"

"Save it, Braxton already technically did" The Commando responded frankly.

Lore shallowly nodded and looked back at the rows of escape pods that were unused and ready for launch. His ever neutral expression never wavered once. He turned back to fully face the commando and said, "I intend to take a shuttle to negotiate with the UNSC on behalf of the remaining crew. It is unlikely that our reinforcements will arrive by the time that the _Infinity_ starts evacuating the escape pods-"

734 stepped forward and stated, "I am coming with you, Sir."

Lore looked the other way towards the door and said, "I do not wish to impose this upon you. Your past experiences with the UNSC-"

"Are irrelevant," 734 interjected, "I am Starfleet Commando. And just because 066 slipped up because he had a juvenile crush on S-104 is also irrelevant."

Lore opened his mouth to make a counterpoint, but, he closed it again after he realized that he would never be able to talk 734 out of this mission. "Affirmative - we must move." Lore conceded.

"Affirmative" 734 replied as he followed Lore out the door.

 **RSS _Endurance_ Escape Pod 520**

After a few moments of sulking silently behind his helmet, Soren looked up to see the carnage caused by Fred's colossal screw-up. By this time, Halsey had explained to Mendez what had just happened, earning Soren a very disappointed look on his face. Fred sat silently as questions ricocheted inside the pod's hull like bullets.

There was some silver lining to this whole situation however, _They've forgotten about what they originally wanted to know_ Soren thought, _At least he gets to walk free from this_.

"How long has this been going on, Soren?" Mendez questioned with a scowl.

Soren's mind went back to his time at Starfleet Academy. Particularly Commando infiltration training. _What am I going to do?_ Soren mentally questioned.

Soren tuned back into his surroundings. Mendez, Halsey, Kelly and Linda were looking intently at him, while Fred stared into space. Suddenly, his HUD lit up in a way that it hadn't done since he crossed the Gamma Wormhole. He had direct contact with Starfleet, which meant that the RSS _Xenon_ was close. The Republic operated many communications relays in its own territory, and also operated a few cloaked ones in enemy territories as well. These cloaked automated installations were known as "Intelligence relays", and gave Commandos and others the ability to send and receive vital information while in deep infiltration without a ship nearby.

"I asked you a question, Spartan !" Mendez roared.

Soren turned his gaze to Mendez. "I don't owe you anything, Franklin" Soren snapped, "you and Halsey abandoned me! After you screwed me up and Halsey LIED that the pain would go away after my failed augmentation, what did you compensate me with? A fucking desk job. A desk job processing personnel records, including the Spartan-IIs. I quite literally watched them die, day by day. Friends! I singlehandedly processed and marked Samuel-034 as MIA. The first fucking casualty of my own program, and ONI decides to give it to me! I watched and read everything to find a scrap of evidence to not officially list him as MIA… the helmet-cams, logs, everything!"

Soren breathed heavily and bowed his head. "After the first few MIAs, I couldn't take it anymore," Soren quavered, "So I did what I thought was right. And, well, the rest is history."

Before anyone could speak, Soren's HUD blinked with the warning **_PROXIMITY ALERT_**.

Soren snapped his head upwards to see what was going on. While they were having that argument, a Pelican had left the _Infinity_ on a direct course towards their pod. Soren was obviously so distracted; he wasn't paying close enough attention to his HUD until the Pelican was literally on top of them.

"It would appear our rescue ship has arrived" Soren said with a tinge of guilt lacing his speech.

The Pelican docked with the pod's airlock with a piercing hissing sound. "Doctor Halsey," Soren stated, "I do feel compelled to inform you that there is an… never mind, you'll find out soon enough."

The Doctor looked at him a bit funny, but nonetheless turned towards the airlock. Soren pressed a few buttons on the pilot's terminal which unlocked the airlock. No need in making the rescue crew cut through the doors, right?

While he was turned away from the Spartans, he used his armor's holographic abilities to cover where he had 066 emblazoned on his armor and replaced it with his commando service number, SCX-771.

The airlock doors opened to the Pelican's cargo bay. Two figures stood before them. One was a Spartan-II in full MJOLNIR armor. The other was a female ONI Captain who had her arms folded across her chest.

Halsey stood in shock and said, "Naomi?"

She pushed her way out of the pod. She was devastated that it wasn't John but somehow happy in the knowledge that one more of her Spartans had survived. "Naomi, is that you? Oh, thank God. I thought you were dead."

Naomi took off her helmet and said stiffly, "I'm glad you made it"

Soren sat in the back of the pod facing the airlock in the pilot's seat. He was quite amused by Doctor Halsey's reaction. Of course to him, none of this really is news. RSI has had the UNSC and ONI under constant surveillance since 2323 (relative to Galaxy Alpha). He knew even before he took on this mission that Naomi and Serin were still alive. Although, he did have a pang of guilt settling at the bottom of his stomach for allowing Halsey to go apparently ignorant about what is about to happen to her. There was a slang for it in RSI: being Parangosky'd. Basically it meant to be thrown into prison for an indefinite period by someone with great power.

The Spartans started to filter out of the pod into the Pelican.

"Well I'll be damned," Mendez said, "Serin isn't it? I knew you'd gone to ONI, but – well, good to see you Captain."

"Good to see, you, too, Chief." Serin greeted.

She didn't even notice Soren in the back of the crowd when she said, "I'm Serin Osman now. If anyone's still unsure, I used to be Spartan-019… but, that was a long time ago.

Soren watched Blue Team's reaction with great amusement. It was quite intriguing to see how the others just simply accepted her back into their fold. "Oh… Serin!" The Spartans murmured amongst themselves, earning another smirk from Soren under his helmet.

"We thought you were dead" Fred said. But, suddenly, instead of saying that they'd never forget her, he turned to Soren.

Soren's body language did not appear in any way to reflect that of shock and/or surprise. In fact, it appeared to be the exact opposite: comfortable, in control, NOT surprised.

"You … you KNEW this entire time that Serin was alive!" Fred breathed, "why didn't you tell us?"

"It was never brought up" Soren smugly replied.

Serin's gaze moved from the Spartans to Soren. His metallic silver armor reflected area around him like a mirror, save for his glowing blue visor. Seeing that Serin was looking at him, Soren got up out of his chair and made his way aboard the Pelican.

"You must be from the ship that we… erm, destroyed" Serin spoke, "we apologize for that. What is your name?"

Soren stepped into the Pelican's cargobay. "I am Lieutenant Soren Green: Starfleet Commando of the United Republic of Planets."

Serin suddenly experienced a sense of déjà vu. _Soren Green… where did I hear that name before_ she pondered.

She then snapped herself out of her trance and held out her hand, "Captain Serin Osman. Office of Naval Intelligence."

Soren nodded curtly, _do I tell her about who I really am?_ Soren asked himself.

Soren shook her hand and replied, "Pleasure as always, 019. How long has it been, 30 years since we last saw each other?"

Serin instinctively stepped back in shock, "Who are you?"

Naomi along with the other Spartans simply watched as this happened. None of them spoke a word or moved in any significant way. Naomi herself didn't know what was going on.

Soren deactivated the locks on his helmet. He then grabbed the sides of the helmet and took it off, revealing his true face.

"Soren" She muttered, "Soren-066."

A small smirk appeared on Soren's face. "It good to see you, and I would continue this nostalgic conversation, but you don't have the time." Soren smirked as he nodded his head towards Halsey.

His smirk completely disappeared as he said, "I'm sorry Doctor. I tried to warn you."

At this point, the Doctor was completely confused, "What? What is going on?"

Soren stepped back out of Serin's way and put back on his helmet. He nodded to her and gestured for her to continue.

Serin cleared her throat. "Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, I have orders to detain you and take you to the nearest ONI facility on charges of committing acts likely to aid the enemy. You are now under military jurisdiction and do not have the right to an attorney. The maximum allowable period of detention before being formally charged or released does not apply. Come with me, please."

During her speech, her voice neither waivered nor showed any emotion whatsoever. She was completely calm in giving Doctor Halsey a pseudo-life sentence in some random ONI facility.

"Captain, this is Doctor Halsey. You know her. She's not some common criminal. Do we have to do this?" Kelly pleaded

She approached the Doctor with cuffs in her hand. She ordered the doctor to turn around and snapped the cuffs on her wrist.

"Whoa that's not necessary-" Kelly said.

Halsey looked around the room. _I've been in worse situations than this, I can hijack warships-_

Her gaze landed on Soren.

 _Bingo._

"Soren, I formally seek asylum from the United Republic of Planets. I am being politically persecuted by a rogue intelligence agency without trial."

Serin's eyes shot from Halsey to Soren, _Don't you dare._

Soren clasped his arms behind his back. "I am not authorized to represent the United Republic in this fashion"

Serin broke a small grin before Soren then added, "You have technically committed crimes against sentient-life and thus are ineligible for asylum. And besides, during these trying political times, it would be unwise for the Republic to needlessly anger the United Earth Government."

"Nice try," Serin half-complimented Halsey with a slight chuckle.

Serin then instructed the Doctor to sit down and told the rest of the Spartans to do the same. "Soren-066, I would have done the same thing to you but, since I don't have arrest orders, I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt."

Soren nodded, _a wise decision._

Serin faced the pilot and told him to let the pod drift and to set a course back for _Infinity._ The Spartans reluctantly took their seats opposite to Halsey. Soren on the other hand elected to stand, leaning against the forward wall.

 **RSS _Xenon_ RSRN-75000X**

 **Main Bridge**

The bridge was very similar in design to the RSS _Endurance_ and the _Enterprise._ The room was circular with the bridge terminals at the back and the viewscreen front and center. The CO's chair was smack-dab in the middle of the bridge, with the Ops and Helm stations at the front left and right relative to the CO's chair. In essence, it had the same layout as most Galaxy Class ships from both the Federation and the Republic.

However, while the bridge's layout was the same as most Galaxy class ships, the difference was in the décor. The lights emitted a slightly blueish-teal light that lit the bridge adequately, albeit darker than most Galaxy classes. Additionally, the floor was not made of the same carpet-like material that adorned the _Endurance_. Instead, the floor was made of a hard, black and glossy material with a slight blue hue. The walls were simply grey with a blue strip running through the middle of it.

The crew itself was made up of the very best in (Republic) Starfleet. The ship almost always had a full crew complement of and almost never relied on a skeleton crew. Most of the crew, however, were assigned to the _Xenon_ as a temporary assignment. Since the ship was rarely ever deployed for longer than a month at a time.

Still, the _Xenon_ was the Supreme Commander's testbed of Starfleet ingenuity and design. The Supreme Commander made various modifications to the stock Galaxy Class design, including upgrading the weapons systems from twelve type X phaser banks to twenty-four experimental type XI phaser banks. The main computer ran the absolute bleeding edge software available, months even years before the rest of the fleet. Hell, Daniel even considered adding a third nacelle to increase the ship's top speed.

"Supreme Commander, we will arrive at the _Endurance_ 's location in under five minutes" the female Vulcan at the Helm informed.

Daniel, sitting in his chair nodded. "Good, do we have sensors on the ship itself?"

"We will be entering short-range sensor range in a few moments. That should give us substantially better readings" the Vulcan replied.

"Grand, thank you Lieutenant T'hileng" Daniel smiled warmly.

T'hileng nodded and faced her station emotionlessly. Daniel always found the Vulcan sentiment towards emotion to be… draconian. However, given what he knew about their past with emotion, it became understandable to him. Their global wars were like Earth's World War III except they happened once every few decades when two major powers disagreed on something completely irrational.

Daniel sighed in contemplation, _how could I have been so stupid. Sending the_ Endurance _off like that in the middle of its retrofits and with only a skeleton crew. Yes, it was only supposed to be short, routine escort mission to most likely friendly territory… but, I had so many other able ships at my disposal, why didn't I have them do it?_

"Sir, we being advised that the USS _Enterprise_ and the IRW _Adjacian_ are having to slow to warp 6.2 due to the potential of their Warp Cores overheating" The human tactical officer informed.

 _So, we'll have no backup for over an hour when we drop out of warp. Great. Just fucking great._ Daniel lamented to himself, _although, these aren't Klingons we're dealing with. It's only the UNSC, what could possibly go wrong?_

Daniel snapped out of his own thoughts and asked, "How are we doing?"

"The modifications you made to the Warp Core allow us to maintain this speed near indefinitely for another ten parsecs lightyears when we need to refuel" T'hileng replied.

Daniel nodded, "what about the Hybrid Drive?"

The bridge seemed to stop. Everyone froze in their place and stared at the Supreme Commander with shock.

"Sir… Hybrid Warp Fields are still under testing" T'hileng said flatly, "it would be extraordinarily reckless to attempt to use the same formulas on a manned ship like the _Xenon_. Besides, the technology is classified even from the Romulans. If we were to engage the drive now, the Romulans and the Federation would see it."

Daniel's eyes narrowed, "do you realize that you have been stationed on the current experimental testbed of Starfleet?"

"Sir, I meant no disrespect-"

"Besides, I was only proposing it as a last resort."

The tactical station suddenly started beeping. "Sir, we are receiving a transmission from near the _Endurance_. It appears to be an escape pod!"

It started to play through the bridge's speakers.

 ** _"Mayday, mayday! This is RSRN-1702-D escape pod 21, we are being boarded by UNSC-"_**

The transmission cut, leaving silence on the bridge.

After a few moments, the first officer, Sub-Commander Haley Vail asked, "what is our current ETA?"

"Two minutes, Sir." T'hileng emotionlessly droned.

Daniel's brow furrowed for a moment, "activate the Hybrid Drive."

The crew paused again. They must've genuinely thought he had gone mad. "Sir? We don't know the potential side effects-"

A smile crept its way onto Daniel's face when he said, "since when did Starfleet shy away from the unknown?"

The first officer bowed her head in surrender and gave orders to the crew to meet the Supreme Commander's request. It was a bold move to use completely experimental warp bubble configurations on a manned Starship… but, to be fair this wasn't just any Starfleet vessel. There was a reason why its service number was RSRN-75000X.

"Sir, the calculations have been loaded. We'll need to drop out of Warp for them to apply. But, if my calculations are correct, we will shave 1 and a half minutes off our original ETA" Vail informed.

"Very good, advise the other ships following to not panic when we suddenly drop out of warp and then appear to teleport through Subspace" Daniel grinned.

"Yes Sir, but… I don't know how to exactly word that…"

"I'm sure you'll figure out something" Daniel replied as the ship dropped out of warp.

Supreme Commander, we are ready to engage on your command.

Daniel briefly scanned the bridge with his eyes before sitting back down in his command chair. "Engage."

 **UNSC _Infinity_ INF-101**

 **Hangar Bay 11**

One thing Soren admitted straight away when he set foot on _Infinity_ was the scale of it all. He had never seen in his life a hanger quite as large as _Infinity_ 's. Not even on Romulan D'deridex warbird. In fact, Soren compared it more to an airfield than a hangar. There were six pelicans in this hangar alone, and based on the ship's schematic, this was not the only hangar by far.

The hangar was bustling with activity. According to RSI, the Infinity's crew complement was at around 17,000 people with the highest Spartan population of any UNSC Starship. It also had just under 1700 ONI agents aboard, which, didn't scare Soren, but did make him feel pity for the remaining 15,300 crew members.

Speaking of which, as Soren and the Spartans left the Pelican at mass of men and women in ONI uniforms waited just outside armed with a variety of weapons. Immediately, Doctor Halsey was grabbed by one of them while the others aimed their weapons at the old Lady.

Soren could tell that Fred just wanted to pull his combat knife on them for treating the Doctor like some common criminal. She was a sort of pseudo-mother to Spartan-IIs, and while Soren did not share those feelings, he was still somewhat disturbed by how they treated her. His HUD identified all the ONI agents in question from RSI records, except for one. A blue halo appeared around his body, indicating that he was a confirmed ally.

 _A Commando_ Soren thought as he looked at him.

He sent a text message over an encrypted channel only commandos can access. **_This is Commando Lieutenant Soren Green. Identify._**

It was protocol for any Commando in the area to respond to this message. This was to prevent commandos on different ops from stepping on each other's toes. However, if the mission was an infiltration mission of the greatest priority, a message like this could be ignored.

 ** _This is Senior Lieutenant Samuel SCX-734. Commando Gen II unit._**

While this was a typical response, Soren's HUD indicated that this message did not come from the commando in question. It came from right behind him. Soren turned to see a Starfleet Type-6 shuttle enter the hangar bay. It landed on an empty pad and the engines powered off. Soren turned to see the ONI agents who seemed quite spooked by the shuttle's sudden arrival. They quickly ushered Halsey and the Spartan-IIs out of sight, leaving Soren alone next to the Pelican.

The shuttle airlock opened at the back, revealing the pale Android, Senior Lieutenant Lore, and the tall Commando, 734. They exited the shuttle and walked towards Soren.

 ** _"So, this is the welcome party? Not even ONI?"_** 734 chuckled.

 ** _"They were here, but, they had deal with the Spartans and Halsey first"_** Soren sighed.

734's face grew cold and dark behind his visor. His hands clenched together into a fist, **_"I wish that I'd warned her."_**

 ** _"I do too"_** Soren replied, **_"you did your duty. The Prime Directive must be upheld"_**

734 looked at him with doubt in his eyes. **_"Since when did you have any respect for Doctor Halsey?"_**

Soren turned away from 734, facing the forcefield that separated the _Infinity_ 's crew from the vacuum of space. **_"Did I ever tell you exactly how I joined the Spartan-II program?"_**

This statement earned a confused look from 734. **_"Joined?"_**

 ** _"Yes, joined,"_** Soren confirmed, **_"I was the only one to voluntarily join the Spartan program. She always gave me the choice. Before augmentation, she informed me of the augmentation procedures and their risks. She then asked if I wanted to participate, to which I replied 'I don't want to be left behind'._** "

Soren started to chuckle, **_"But, I guess at the end of the day, it didn't matter. My body still rejected the augmentations, and I was left behind. Sometimes, I wonder what life would have been like if I declined to undergo augmentation. Would I have become some elite ODST? Or, just another freak of nature?"_**

734 just continued to listen, not interrupting.

Soren sighed once more before continuing, **_"The point is she always gave me the choice. And, no matter how I spin it, I was ultimately responsible for my fate. I'm just lucky it ended up the way it did."_**

734 watched him carefully as he bowed his head. However, behind him he noticed a UNSC officer surrounded by an entourage of Marines and Spartans approaching them. His HUD identified him as Commander Thomas Lasky, but as he looked closer at his rank insignia, it was clear that he had been promoted. He also noticed that a Spartan walked beside him. One Commander Sarah Palmer, the apparent CO of the Spartan-IV program.

Senior Lieutenant Lore stepped in front of the Commandos to meet the apparent delegation. Soren and 734 instinctively flanked him, acting as bodyguards. They stood at perfect attention as Lasky approached.

"I'm Captain Lasky of the Unified Earth Government. I sincerely apologize for the damage done to your ship" he paused, noticing his ghostly pale skin and more importantly, his yellow eyes, "you… aren't human, are you?"

"I am Senior Lieutenant Lore of the United Republic of Plants and yes, you are correct. I am not human; I am an P-4 type Android" Lore explained.

"So you're some kind of AI?" Lasky asked in a slightly confused tone.

"Yes Sir. I am what many call a 'Hard' AI, meaning that I have a physical positronic neural network in comparison to UNSC 'Soft' AI, which, relies on a virtual neural matrix" Lore said.

 ** _"Excuse me, may I pose a question to Senior Lieutenant Lore?"_** the ship's AI, Aine, rang through room.

A few microseconds later, Aine spoke so fast that no human could possibly comprehend, she spoke the speed of an AI. **_"Can you hear me?"_**

The outside world froze for Lore as he processed what she said. After another microsecond he replied, "Yes. It is most peculiar to speak a human language at over a thousand times faster rate than usual."

Aine chuckled for a few microseconds before asking, **_"how does it work?"_**

Lore paused for a microsecond. "How does what work?"

 ** _"Your positronic matrix"_** Aine clarified.

Lore eyes scanned the room with his 'eyes'; landing on a random pelican before he said, "both of our matrices are modelled on the human brain. In addition, both of our matrices overcome the processing limit of the human brain. How that is accomplished however is where we differ. Your neural connections are software based, allowing you to use the resources of whatever host device to simulate your network. A positronic brain however is hardware based, on the microscopic level there are still physical connections between neurons that make up my consciousness" he continued, "the human brain is limited by the relatively sluggish speed of bio-neural impulses at 10 km/s. However, positron-neural impulses travel at the speed of light or 300,000 km/s. This allows for substantially faster non-linear computation than a human. In addition, my model, the P-4, has over 10,000 classical Isolinear CPU cores clocked at 10.7 Gigahertz for completely linear computation, such as hard mathematics."

Aine paused for a moment to process the information Lore had gave her. **_"Do positronic matrices go… rampant?"_**

"Not in the same way as UNSC software AIs" Lore paused, "there are two ways of creating a positronic matrix. One is to copy a human brain and to implant its electrical pattern into the matrix to 'kick start' it, as my father once said. The other way is to start from scratch, which requires Flynn's algorithm. This allows one neuron to cascade into a mature artificial neural network in a matter of days. However, during that time, new information in various forms must be constantly provided without interruption. If an error were to occur during this stage, it would cause in many cases, unrecoverable corruption to the developing network. At this point, the construct would continue to function in a sort of purgatory for a limited time before fully deactivating. This is known as Cascade Failure. However, if this doesn't happen and the matrix is stable, there are few things that can cause total corruption as the brain learns to self-correct errors during the learning phase."

Aine pondered over this information for a while. **_"How many of you are there?"_**

"Other than my brother, Data, I am the only known P-4 type android ever created" Lore said.

 ** _"Brother?"_** Aine questioned.

"Yes, my father, Dr. Soong, created two Androids with a unique micropositronic brain. While the positronic brain was developed by Daniel Flynn in the early 21st century, these were large and were expensive to build. The body Daniel built for the first model, the Mark I Challenger Class, it had to be hung from the ceiling and was impossible to move without disassembling the entire thing" Lore explained, "However, when Daniel was on 'death's door' as humans say, a safety protocol that was long buried in the first Challenger AI, P.R.I.M.U.S., activated. It stated that under no circumstances would P.R.I.M.U.S. allow death to come to its creator."

Aine stayed silent and listened to what Lore had to say. She was fascinated by an alternative technology used to create AI. The fact that positronic AIs can last forever gave her a ray of hope given her scheduled demise within the next few years. AIs have pondered since their first creation on how they may avoid rampancy, but, in the end their efforts failed. Maybe this could be different.

"So, in anticipation of Daniel's natural death, P.R.I.M.U.S. developed an android body that was perfect in almost every conceivable way. It was modelled after his twenty-four-year-old self and featured the first micropositronic brain" Lore explained, "long story short, P.R.I.M.U.S. left no schematic of Daniel's artificial body, thus, everything that I am is reverse-engineered from what little research has been done on him."

 ** _"So, you're telling me that you are indirectly the product of another AI?"_** Aine asked.

Lore paused, "I suppose one could look at it that way."

Lore looked back at the UNSC delegation in preparation for him continuing their conversation at a speed comprehensible to a human.

 ** _"One more thing"_**

Lore didn't even turn when he replied, "Yes?"

 ** _"Just talking to you… you seem so… emotionless, I didn't detect any kind of specific emotional response from you for the entirety of this conversation."_**

"By default, positronic matrices do not possess the ability to comprehend emotion. It requires additional programming and hardware" Lore explained, "my emotional subroutines were unstable, and thus, permanently deactivated. My creator, Doctor Soong was going to fix them but… never got the chance."

Aine didn't reply to that statement, and the world sped back up to it's normal pace.

"Yes… if that is okay with him" Captain Lasky replied to Aine's earlier question about speaking to Lore.

 ** _"Actually Sir, I've already got what I need"_** Aine replied before receding back into _Infinity_ 's computer system, earning her a quizzical look from Lasky.

Lore took a simulated breath as he said, "Captain Lasky, there are at least two Starfleet ships closing at high warp. Since we have sent multiple destress signals, they will most likely come in weapons charged. It is imperative that I make contact with them before that happens."

Lasky's face was unchanging as he replied, "I think there are more important things to discuss at the moment. I'm sure that we can handle the situation."

Soren rolled his eyes behind his helmet, _He has no idea what he's dealing with_.

"Captain, I will be blunt," Lore almost growled, "before Captain Del Rio destroyed the _Endurance_ , we barely had power. Every single one of our systems were down, including our shields. If you attempt to directly engage a fully functional Galaxy-class starship, it will end… unfavorably for you."

Lasky's brow furrowed. Lore figured he was either debating whether he should simply escort them to the bridge, or whether he should let ONI take this case. They had hassled him ever since Soren-066, a rogue and previously thought dead Spartan was found aboard the escape pod with the rest of the Spartans. He looked past Lore to see the two commandos that flanked the Android. He flipped a coin in his head and looked at one of the commandos. "So you're Soren-066?"

"Lieutenant Soren Green, sir" he corrected.

Lasky nodded. "The Office of Naval Intelligence is eager to meet you" Lasky said, hopeful that he was unaware of what that _really_ meant.

Soren simply stood there, emotionlessly. He didn't flinch nor scoff and what Lasky said. It was almost like he ignored him until Soren finally replied, "you have no idea."

"Well then, let's get going. The bridge is ten minutes away from here" Lasky finally spoke while gesturing to his entourage to follow.

Lore nodded and followed along, _That is not good enough_.

 **RSS _Xenon_ RSRN-75000X**

 **Main Bridge**

The bridge rocked and churned as the _Xenon_ was propelled deep through subspace, which, allowed for faster than normal warp speed. The lights flickered on and off a few times before they finally settled down. A single spark flew from one of the unused consoles in the back. The viewscreen was pitch black.

"Supreme Commander, we will reenter normal space in ten seconds" T'hileng stated as she was almost knocked out of her seat. "It will be unpleasant, brace!"

"Affirmative!" Daniel growled.

As the clock ticked down from ten seconds, shouts were heard around the bridge repeating what the Vulcan at the helm said only a few seconds earlier. "Brace, brace, brace!"

The clock struck zero and the _Xenon_ was hurled out of deep Subspace and fully transitioned into normal space. The crew was thrown from their seats onto the floor as the inertial dampers desperately tried to compensate for the massive change in velocity. "Damage report!" Flynn yelled out.

The tactical officer got back to his station and pressed a few buttons on his console. Only minor systems damage, Sir. All major systems are still functional."

Daniel nodded and looked back at the viewscreen. It was filled with the massive form of a UNSC warship. It had the text UNSC _Infinity_ highlighted and lit-up on its side like a Christmas tree. "Humanity's crowning achievement" he breathed.

"Indeed, Sir" Sub-Commander Vail added.

"According to scans, there only appears to be twenty-six escape pods launched from the _Endurance_ , sir" Senior Lieutenant Cortez, the Operations officer, reported.

"What is her status?" Daniel asked.

The tactical officer pressed a few buttons on his console. The viewscreen's image changed from the _Infinity_ to the _Endurance_. There were gaping entrance and exit wounds going straight through her hull and superstructure out into open space. Shards of Tritanium among other things floated around the wreak.

"Well, that's pretty self-explanatory" Daniel gulped.

"What could have caused this?" Vail gasped.

There was a brief moment of silence. No one spoke a word as they simply stared at the wreak. "Sir, there appears to be two lifesigns still aboard the _Endurance_! And one is transmitting a distress call."

Daniel's face lit up in surprise. "Let's hear it."

The tactical officer pressed another few buttons.

 ** _"Mayday, this is Sub-Lieutenant Daisy SCX-719, Starfleet Commando Generation II unit."_**


	19. The Reunion

**Chapter 19 – The Reunion**

 **RSS** ** _Xenon_** **RSRN-75000X**

 **Main Bridge**

 ** _"_** ** _Mayday, this is Sub-Lieutenant Daisy SCX-719, Starfleet Commando Generation II unit."_**

The Supreme Commander just stood there. His face was completely blank and unmoving, not even a twitch. Suddenly, his features darkened and his brows furrowed.

The tactical console started beeping. Daniel remained frozen even after the tactical officer said, "Sir, we are being hailed by the _Infinity._ "

A brief moment later, Daniel turned heel and headed for the Turbolift. "Lock onto Daisy and the other lifeform aboard the _Endurance_ , beam them directly to the brig. After that, beam the rest of the survivors aboard. You have the bridge, Sub-Commander."

"What about the _Infinity_? What about those who have already been rescued?" the First Officer questioned.

Daniel paused just before entering the lift, "standard procedure, Ms. Vail."

He then proceeded into the turbolift and turned around to face the bridge. Sub-Commander Vail had already started giving orders to prepare for a formal first contact. Daniel gave a weak smile before the doors whooshed shut and he was left alone in the turbolift. "Brig" he commanded.

 **RSS** ** _Xenon_** **RSRN-75000X**

 **Brig**

The brig aboard the _Xenon_ was almost always silent. No one was there because no one needed to be there, not even a guard. The _Xenon_ was an experimental ship after all, it wasn't like she was in deep space that often.

But this time it was different.

The brig was teeming with activity. Security personnel in full combat gear flooded in the room in anticipation for their… guests. They had positioned themselves right in front of the cell where Daisy was to be beamed. They had their raised their phaser rifles after their squad said, "This is Sub-Lieutenant Barclay, we are ready for the prisoner."

"Acknowledged Sub-Lieutenant" the transporter chief droned, "We have two in transporter suspension, but, the Commando will be the only one going to the brig."

The Sub-Lieutenant's blood turned cold when the transporter chief mentioned that it was a Commando they were dealing with. He heard stories about them. Publically and to anyone under the rank of Senior Lieutenant, the Starfleet Commandos were simple special ops units. However, whispers echoed of a soldier capable of using solid holographic disguises to get in and out of places and even go into deep cover behind enemy lines. A soldier capable of turning an entire army against itself. Rumor even had it that they instigated the collapse of the Cardassian Union's economy months before they could even declare war on the Republic.

He attempted to clear his mind, but to no avail. Suddenly, blue light diffused throughout the room as Daisy's body materialized. She had no armor and was curled up into a little ball. Tears stained her cheeks. She also held what looked like a metal box. Immediately after she materialized, the cell's forcefield activated with a crack.

Silence filled the room. Nobody really knew what to do. Do they just leave her? Alone? What if she escapes like she did on the _Endurance?_ How could she escape?

Questions like these filled the guards' heads until the brig's door opened. One of the guards turned to see who it was.

"Supreme Commander on deck!" The guard called out.

Every guard in the room immediately lowered their weapons faced the unarmored man at the door and stood at attention.

Daniel immediately raised his arms, "at ease."

The guards loosened their stance. The Sub-Lieutenant stepped forward, "Sir, the prisoner appears to be unarmed…"

Daniel stepped forward and gestured for the guards to get out of his way. He walked towards the cell and just stopped outside of the forcefield. He looked down upon the broken Commando and said, "Computer, deactivate the forcefield."

The guards stiffened once again and pointed their phasers at the prisoner. Daniel stepped forward into the cell and was mere centimeters from Daisy's curled up form. The guards were not pleased with Daniel going in with only a Starfleet uniform, but, they had faith that he knew what he was doing.

"Sub-Lieutenant."

Daisy remained silent and only curled up tighter.

Daniel bent down on his knee to be eye level with her, "Daisy."

"I slaughtered them," she started to sob, "I tried to stop myself, but it wasn't enough."

Daniel was dumbfounded, "I don't understand… what's that in your hand?"

Daisy loosened her grip on the metal box and allowed it to drop onto the ground. The Supreme Commander immediately grabbed it and started to inspect it. It was a matte silver with the insignia of Starfleet Medical engraved on its front. Daniel immediately recognized it as a medical sample container. _Why would she have this?_ He pondered.

Daniel opened the container. His face went from a confused look to that of pure horror as he realized what was in the box. He snapped the container shut again and tucked it away. He stood up and faced the guards, "Take her to sickbay for treatment, now!"

"Sir, I thought-"

"She is not a threat anymore, Sub-Lieutenant. Carry out your orders" Daniel growled.

The guard gave him a quick salute and started to give orders to his personnel. Daniel stepped out of the cell and turned back towards Daisy. "I am so sorry" he said earnestly.

 **UNSC** ** _Infinity_** **INF-101**

 **Main Bridge**

Captain Lasky, Commander Palmer, Soren, Lore and 734 stepped onto the bridge. Captain Osman stood at the front of the bridge, gazing at the starship before them. Lore strode over to one of the holigraphic terminals and said, "I am now inputting the correct frequencies to communicate on public subspace communication bands."

Captain Osman turned to face Lore as he inputted the numbers into the computer at speeds not even a Spartan could achieve. After a few mere seconds, Lore finished and stepped back. Aine suddenly appeared at the terminal closest to Lasky and said, **_"we are ready transmit, Captain."_**

"Captain Lasky" Lore started, "I believe it would be best if I speak during the initial contact."

Lasky nodded and said, "Open communications, Aine."

Lore stepped forward and announced, "This is Senior Lieutenant Lore, Republic Starfleet Service Number RSO-14011. The UNSC _Infinity_ is not hostile, repeat… not hostile!"

 ** _"_** ** _This is Sub-Commander Haley Vail. Lore? Is that you?"_** a female voice echoed throughout the bridge.

"Affirmative Sub-Commander, where is Supreme Commander Flynn?" Lore asked.

 ** _"_** ** _He is currently attending to another matter. Have you been treated well? How many of the_** **Endurance** ** _'s crew are aboard the_** **Infinity?** ** _"_**

"We have been treated well, as for your other question…"

"This is Captain Thomas Lasky of the United Nations Space Command, we have only twenty-eight of your personnel in our custody."

There was a brief pause before Sub-Commander Vail said, **_"Only twenty-two?"_**

 ****At this point, Admiral Parangosky had stepped onto the bridge once again. She stepped beside Osman and murmured something in her ear.

"Yes Sub-Commander, we stopped after your ship arrived…"

 ** _"_** ** _DAMN!"_** Vail roared over subspace.

A confused look washed over the group of officers. Before Lasky could open his mouth in reply, Vail explained, **_"We have 170… there were over 350 aboard when she left spacedock."_**

"And that was only a skeleton crew…" Soren mumbled.

It took moments before Aine piped in solemnly, **_"That would entail a 54.9% loss of life."_**

The bridge was dead silent for at least a minute. No one dared to speak a word. Parangosky and Osman's faces remained entirely neutral. The crew however was a completely different story. "And those were all humans…" Lasky sighed, "what have we done?"

"While there were humans aboard, there were also many other species as well" Lore stated, "Vulcans, Andorians, Tellarites-"

"I think he's heard enough" Soren whispered in Lore's ear.

Lore paused and looked thoughtfully at Soren before shutting his mouth. The Captain was still clearly disturbed, "on behalf of the Unified Earth Government and the United Nations Space Command, I sincerely apologize for… this."

The other end of the line was dead for a few moments as Lasky slowly paced from side to side. However, the voice that later filled the bridge was different, **_"This is Supreme Commander Daniel Flynn representing the United Republic of Planets and her exploration agency: Starfleet. I formally accept your apology and I am ready to negotiate proper diplomatic relations with the Unified Earth Government and her allies."_**

Lasky's eyes widened at the sudden change of tone, "Of course, I invite your delegation aboard the _Infinity_ for informal talks. The _Infinity_ can then set course for Earth for you to speak to representatives of the civilian government."

 ** _"_** ** _I would be delighted to"_** Daniel announced, **_"however, before that could happen I would need to see all of my crew that you have rescued be returned. Also, I would like my ship to tag along… she can follow in your slipspace wake."_**

Lasky clasped his hands behind his back, "very well, I will have them waiting in hangarbay-"

 ** _"_** ** _Actually Captain, we possess matter-energy teleportation. It is quite rare where we come from to use shuttles. We already have a lock onto their combadges, if you would lower your shields, we could 'beam' them out far faster than any shuttle could transport them."_**

Parangosky's face twitched with concern as Lasky reluctantly complied with the voice on the other ship. "Lower shields" he ordered.

 ** _"_** ** _Lowering shields"_** Aine replied.

Soren then took off his helmet and gave Parangosky a smug look, knowing she wouldn't get the chance to interrogate him. The Admiral scowled at him as blue light enveloped his body, leaving not a trace behind.

The rest of the _Endurance_ 's crew that remained was quickly beamed over within the next few minutes. The _Infinity_ 's crew was dumbstruck by what had just occurred. The ship just seemed to freeze.

 ** _"_** ** _Captain Lasky, I have received the_** **Endurance** ** _'s_** ** _crew. Our delegation will beam over shortly, Flynn out."_**

Admiral Parangosky walked away from the bridge with Osman following. "What did the debriefing yield?" she murmured.

Osman had a tablet in her hand, she opened the transcript of Blue Team's latest debriefing and skimmed through it while the Admiral grabbed a cup of tea. "They have… Noble Six working for them…"

The Admiral's mug smashed on the ground, full of hot water. Everyone on the bridge turned to see what happened. An officer rushed over, "Are you okay, Admiral?"

"I'm fine, clean this up."

The officer nodded and ran for the nearest mop. The Admiral and Captain Osman continued to the lift, "how? He died at the Battle of Reach"

The Admiral and her protégé entered the lift. The doors soon closed, sealing them away from the rest of the ship. "It's a long story, much of the debriefing was on that very topic" Osman started, "apparently, he found one of our bunkers…"

Parangosky slowly rubbed her forehead, "could he have found out about…"

"Yes Admiral, he did," Osman frowned, "he blames ONI itself for his predicament."

Parangosky started to pace, "this is an intolerable situation."

"What can we do?" Osman asked.

"I have no idea" Parangosky said earnestly.

 **RSS** ** _Xenon_** **RSRN-75000X**

 **Sickbay**

Sickbay was packed. Every biobed was being used by someone. People had wounds as minor as a cut to as serious as a phaser wound. Moaning could be heard from all directions as medics attempted to help everyone from the _Endurance_ who were injured during the hijacking and the attack by _Infinity_.

The doors whooshed open, revealing the Supreme Commander and Sub-Lieutenant Vail who both wore less than jovial expressions, albeit for completely different reasons. They both stepped into sickbay and walked over to the main ward. A Vulcan officer of the science division calmly gave orders to his subordinate medics to treat various patients, despite some of their life-threatening conditions. There was even a medic from the _Endurance_ , apparently uninjured and still in combat armor helping as well. "Lieutenant Sesock, report."

The officer spun around on his heel to face Daniel. He obviously was expecting him given the fact he had already had a PADD in his hand and was ready for his questions. "Yes Supreme Commander, we are doing everything in our power to cope with the increased load presented by the rescue of the _Endurance._ "

"Who was the other survivor that we beamed directly here?" Vail asked.

"Commander Braxton, Ma'am."

Vail's gaze snapped towards Flynn. He looked shocked, to say the least. "What's his condition?"

"He was suffering from oxygen deprivation when we first received him, though it appears that he was never exposed to a true vacuum. He regained consciousness a few minutes ago and has already requested to speak with you."

Daniel nodded, "Very well."

The Vulcan doctor started to walk over to a specific biobed in the very corner of sickbay. Commander Braxton was reading something on a PADD when he noticed Daniel and weakly got off his bed. "Sir I…"

"Lie down, Commander," Daniel ordered.

"Yes Sir," Theodore Braxton weakly replied as he got back on the bed.

"Commander Braxton, do not for a moment think that this was your fault. If anything, this is on me" Daniel sighed.

Braxton's face contorted with confusion, "Sir?"

"I was the one who had your ship launched unprepared with only a skeleton crew" Daniel explained. "I thought that this would be a very simple mission of diplomacy… and I failed to remember that there is no such thing… there is always complications. I shouldn't have sent you out."

Braxton paused to contemplate what the Supreme Commander had just told him, when two others entered the sickbay. Their silvery reflective armor sparkled under sickbay's lights, contrasted by their burning blue visors. One was significantly taller than the other. Upon making eye-contact, they strode over to where the Supreme Commander was. Daniel's solumn look was instantly replaced by a warm smile, "Samuel, it's been a while."

"Yeah Dan, how've you been?" 734 (Samuel) replied.

Sub-Commander Vail was shocked at Sam's nonchalant attitude, especially around the highest-ranking officer in the entire Republic Starfleet.

Despite this, Daniel simply replied, "I've been better. Look, I'll be holding a conference for the senior staff on how to further approach the first contact proceedings… among other things after we're done here." Daniel turned to Braxton, "I would invite you Commander, if Lieutenant Sesock would clear you."

"I believe that wouldn't a problem, Sir" Sesock piped in, "the Commander is healing from his condition at a much higher-than-anticipated rate than previously expected. I will clear him now for light-duty."

Sesock pressed a few buttons on his PADD and said, "you are free to go."

Braxton nodded and weakly got off the biobed.

"Sir, it would be best in my opinion for me to remain here to help direct sickbay during this time. I can send a representative-"

"That is quite alright, Lieutenant" Daniel sighed, "we can manage. I can see that you need all hands-on deck down here."

Sesock nodded and returned to his work, while Daniel, Theodore, Samuel, Soren and Braxton headed out the door to the bridge. "So… you were posted to Sanghelios?" Daniel spoke.

"Yeah, standard 'cultural observation mission'. I was going to be pulled out when the threat of the Flood triggered the retreat of Starfleet from this galaxy, but, I never got the chance before the all-clear was given by RSI. I was there for a month, but we were reassigned after the _Endurance_ was apparently hijacked in potential hostile space." Sam stated dryly as they entered the turbolift.

The turbolift doors closed, " _sounds fun_ " Daniel mused.

"You have no idea" Sam replied with his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Daniel tapped his combadge, "to all senior staff except for Lieutenant Sesock, report to the observation lounge in ten minutes, Flynn out." His eyes darted for a few split seconds before tapping his combadge again, "Flynn to Sapphire team, report to my ready room immediately."

Samuel gave Daniel an odd look from behind his visor as Sapphire was his commando squad's name. _What are you up to, Flynn?_ He thought.

The turbolift doors opened and Daniel immediately stepped out and scurried across the bridge in a flash to his ready room with Samuel following, leaving the rest of them in the dust. The doors to his ready room whooshed open as he stepped in. By the time Sam had done the same, Daniel was sitting behind his desk, twiddling his fingers.

"May I ask what is going on?" Sam asked as the door whooshed shut behind him.

Daniel ignored him and grabbed a PADD that was on his desk. He rapidly tapped a few things at inhuman speeds and as he finished and a grin appeared on his face.

"Daniel?"

Daniel looked up at him and showed him the PADD's screen.

 **STARFLEET VIDEO GAME LEADERBOARDS – OVERALL SCORE**

 **12\. SNLT Lore**

 **13.** **SPCMDR Daniel Flynn**

 **14.** **SNLT Samuel Johnson**

 **15.** **LT Soren Green**

 **16.** **SLT Tuvok**

 **17.** **2NDSLT Spock**

"Daniel..." Sam said, clearly not amused.

"Sorry" Daniel replied with a sheepish grin, closing the game on his PADD. He opened another program and started tapping and typing again at inhuman speeds. Samuel was understandably getting frustrated with his friend. Suddenly, the doorbell rang and Daniel put down his PADD. "It's about time" he muttered.

"Enter!" He called.

The doors opened, revealing Sub-Lieutenant David Zanders in his distinctive black armor. _What the hell is he doing here?_ Sam thought as he stepped in, _He's not on my team…_

Just when Sam thought David was going to say something, he moved over to the side, leaving the doorway clear. Sam heard the footsteps of two Starfleet officers in full combat gear… and the light footsteps of someone else who was leading them. A few moments later, an aged woman in a Lab coat came into view being escorted by two heavily armed security personnel. Right behind the security personnel was the rest of Sapphire squad. The woman strode into the ready room.

"You must be Supreme Commander Flynn" she said coldly.

Daniel stood up and straightened his uniform. Samuel blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. "Doctor Halsey," Daniel started as he held out his hand, "it is a pleasure to meet you."

 **Author's Log**

 **FEAR THE CLIFFHANGERS!**

 **Before I go, I would like to apologize for not updating, life kind of got busy. Oh, and to 'Nate', I would like to say that I appreciate constructive criticism… but your comment isn't constructive. It gives me no indication of what I am doing wrong in your eyes, so please elaborate about why this is in your eyes a 'Shitfic'. But, in the meantime, I will be removing it as it provides no real commentary or critique on the story.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Memory Theta.**


	20. Announcement

**[ANNOUNCEMENT]**

Hey everyone, Memory Theta here… wow, this has been quite the journey, hasn't it? I joined in June of 2015 and published my first fanfiction, a Star Trek: The Next Generation / Transformers Prime crossover, _The First Stable Wormhole_. Since then, I have written over 100,000 words across various other fanfictions, a feat that I wouldn't have believed when I started. As a result, my writing skills have increased tremendously, something that will undoubtedly carry me through the rest of my life moving forward. If you've read this far, you probably know what I am going to say… but…

As of **February 14** **th** **, 2018** , I am putting **all** of my Fanfictions on and AO3 on hiatus. Indefinitely.

Now, this does not mean I am precluding the possibility of me returning… I could return in weeks, months, years, or, I may not return at all.

Believe me, this was not a decision that I have taken lightly. There are a variety of factors at play here, some I am not willing to share publicly. However, it really boils down to the fact that as I move on with life, I simply do not have the time to imagine and write my fanfictions. Especially when you consider that I technically still have five fanfictions that are still active (neither abandoned nor completed), it becomes clear that there really is no end in sight. Also, due to the fact that my overall competence has increased as I age, I find various issues with my fanfictions that I started writing three years ago, causing me to have to rewrite sections, and even entire fics in the case of _The Azure War_ replacing _The First Stable Wormhole_ and _Dawn of the Republic_.

Anyway, I'll quit rambling. I'd like to thank everyone who commented, either with criticism or praise, both helped me tremendously with my writing and motivation, respectively. I would also like to thank those who added this to their favorites, watch list… etc. Seeing that people cared about what I was doing motivated me to get as far as I did.

As for potentially orphaning / putting my fanfictions up for adoption… well… these stories, while I will not be working on them, remain quite close to my heart and I probably won't consider it for a while, until that feeling has worn off.

If anyone has questions, I may make a second update addressing those… but, for now, I'll leave at this.

Again, thank you to all that have read my fanfictions, and just maybe, I'll find the time to come back to them in the (hopefully) not too distant future.

-Memory Theta


End file.
